The FA Cup quest begins: Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa preview and team news

One of four all-Premier League ties takes Villa back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the FA Cup third round

It’s not controversial to say that 1957 was a very long time ago. If you’re detail-orientated it might even be argued that it was a not-very-nice 69 years ago, and that might as well be ancient history.

Aston Villa won the FA Cup that year. The last time they won it before that was 1920 and they haven’t done it since. Villa were once the godfather of the FA Cup but Lonnie Donegan was number one in the charts on the day of their last final win.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s too long a gap between Villa’s seventh and eighth cups. I’m willing to bet supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, who do have eight cup wins, would say the same about 1991.

Villa and Spurs meet again in this year’s third round. The same fixture has already been played in the Premier League this season and it went Villa’s way. The two teams might have rather different outlooks on this match and the FA Cup in general this season.