MANCHESTER United and Tottenham Hotspur can both claim to have had seasons of progress in the Premier League but the FA Cup, in which they meet in tomorrow’s semifinal, remains their only chance of ending the campaign with silver ware.
The sides meet at Wembley Stadium, which is nominally a neutral venue even if Spurs have been playing all their home games at the national stadium this season.
At the start of the season some questioned whether Spurs would ever feel at home at Wembley but with nearly a full campaign under their belt, defender Jan Vertonghen believes Spurs are certainly at ease in the arena.
“Wembley is definitely not a disadvantage,” said the Belgian.
“We ’re used to it now, even if the atmosphere will be a bit different because United will bring more supporters than usual.
“ Hopefully we can have the same game as at the beginning of this year when we beat United in a very positive way,” Ver tonghen said, referring to the 2-0 Premier League win in January.
Although Spurs have continued to play entertaining football and improve under Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino, they have yet to win a trophy in his time at the club but Vertonghen believes an FA Cup triumph could be a launch-pad for more success.
United bounced back from Sunday ’s shock 1-0 home Premier League defeat by bottom club West Bromwich Albion with a c o n v incing 2 - 0 w in at Bournemouth on Wednesday to consolidate second place in the table.
The other semi-final on Sunday pits Antonio Conte’s Chelsea against relegation-threatened Southampton.
Chelsea, fifth in the league, also have strong motivation to win the trophy given their title defence ended with them facing the possibility of missing out on Champions League football next season.
Mark Hughes’s Saints will take a welcome break from their dogfight against the drop as they seek their first appearance in the FA Cup final since their 2003 defeat by Arsenal. - REUTERS