The Athletic FC

Welcome to the preview from the Athletic FC

where this week we're getting you set for the weekend's

FA Cup action, not least Chelsea's trip to high-flying

Rexham.

Now rotation always due rigour for the cups and in that vein we bring you a couple of preview debutantes. Richard Sutcliffe is the athletics expert in all things Wrexham. Hi, Richard. Hi there. And also, we've got my EFL sparring partner, handbrake off and totally show regular Adrian Clark on board. Hey, do you and Clarkie? Yeah, hello, Matt. Yeah, this is exciting, isn't it? Yeah, new show. Love it.

Yeah, particularly with what we're going to start with. Before we get to the F.A. Cup action,

we're going to talk Tudor's Tottenham Turbulance. So Spurs lost three, one at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday evening, and they had their captain sent off

for good measure too. Adrian Eagle Tudors lost his first three games in charge, no wins in

2026, more in discipline from a senior pro, one point above the relegation zone. As an Arsenal

man, you must be full of sympathy. It's going swimmingly, isn't it, down at Spurs?

I mean, it must be seriously alarming for Tottenham Hotspur fans at the moment.

We saw the images of some of the supporters last night,

and you get a flavour, didn't you, of the mood?

What a disastrous start it's been for Igor Tudor.

Wild fluctuations in terms of the tactics and the formations and also the personnel.

You know, some of the defending has been abysmal.

So they're bang in trouble.

It's as simple as that.

And they've got some pretty tricky fixtures to come. Yeah, they've got Champions League in midweek away, Atlanta, to go Madrid, then Liverpool away, Forest at home in the Premier League. What do you reckon, Richard? Could they actually go down? I'd never thought so. You know, I know we've had a, we have a lot of Tottenham fans on the firm, as they say, at work,

and they keep been telling me for weeks,

oh, yeah, we're definitely going down, definitely going down. And I'm just like, I don't think you are. I'm saying this as a Leeds fan as well. And we haven't been mentioned in the last few weeks in terms of who might go down. It's always been West Ham, Forest or Topner. And I'm thinking, I think it's Leeds or Forest.

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