Tottenham to host Morecambe in FA Cup third round tie

Tottenham Hotspur is weeks away from playing its first FA Cup match of the season, and officially has an opponent to kick off this season’s campaign. The team will host League One side Morecambe FC in the third round during the weekend of January 8.

The match will be a reunion of sorts for Morecambe manager Stephen Robinson and midfielder Jonathan Obika, both of whom were products of the Tottenham academy.

The Shrimps enter the third round after beating fellow League One side Newport County and Northern Premier League Premier Division side Buxton FC in consecutive 1-0 wins. Morecambe currently sits 20th out of 24th in the League One table after 19 matches, four points above the drop zone.

This marks the sixth consecutive season Tottenham starts its FA Cup campaign against a lower league side, going on to advance to the fourth round in each instance. Tottenham has not lost a third round tie since the 2013-14 season, when the team lost 2-0 to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

The match will be Tottenham’s second of the new year, and would fall in between a trip to Watford on January 1 and a match against Arsenal on January 16.