Guardian Sport

Tottenham Hotspur select strong team for Watford FA Cup tie

By Anthony Matthews

7:31pm Friday 27th January 2012

Spurs have selected a very strong team for their FA Cup fourth round tie at Watford tonight.

Harry Redknapp, who walked into Vicarage Road alongside his squad following the fifth day of his trial at Southwark Crown Court, has included the likes of Scott Parker, Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart, Jermain Defoe and Emmanuel Adebayor as his side seeks to make the last 16 of the competition.

The Tottenham line-up does however show five changes from the side that went down to a pulsating 3-2 defeat at Manchester City in the Premier League last time out.

Brad Friedel, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Aaron Lennon drop to the bench, Gareth Bale is not risked after picking up a thigh problem, while Ledley King is rested.

Along with Adebayor, who was not eligible to face City under the terms of his season-long loan, their places are taken by keeper Carlo Cudicini, skipper for the night Michael Dawson, former Watford loanee Danny Rose and Jake Livermore.

The Hornets make three changes from the side that was beaten 3-0 at Birmingham City last weekend.

Exciting youngster Sean Murray is the biggest surprise, making only his second senior start, while striker Joe Garner and the vastly experienced full-back Lloyd Doyley are included at the expense of substitutes Carl Dickinson and Mark Yeates and the injured Jonathan Hogg.

Watford: Loach; Hodson, Nosworthy, Mariappa, Doyley; Deeney, Eustace, Buaben, Murray; Garner, Sordell. Substitutes: Dickinson, Yeates, Iwelumo, Forsyth, Jenkins, Whichelow and Bond.

Tottenham Hotspur: Cudicini; Walker, Kaboul, Dawson, Rose; Van der Vaart, Parker, Livermore, Modric; Defoe, Adebayor. Substitutes: Lennon, Pavlyuchenko, Bassong, Kranjcar, Friedel, Assou-Ekotto and Pienaar.

Referee: Chris Foy.

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