Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City are showing that they can mix it with the elite and are currently in a good position to claim a place in the Champions League next season.

These two sides clash at White Hart Lane tomorrow in the third round of the FA Cup, having drawn the league match at the King Power Stadium 1-1 earlier in the campaign.

The Spurs and Foxes have met in the semi-final and final of the FA Cup before with both results going the London team’s way.

Last year, they also met in the fourth round of the competition and Leicester emerged victorious 2-1 away.

Last weekend, Tottenham’s Dele Alli produced the latest eye-catching performance of his im-pressive season so far in a 1-1 draw at Everton, capping his match with a fine volleyed equaliser at Goodison Park.

Alli, 19, has provided yet more evidence that he really is a rising star as Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters the England international, signed from MK Dons last year, needs to be handled with care to play at the highest level as the Euro 2016 finals draw near.

Leicester will be without star striker Jamie Vardy following a minor surgery.

Manager Claudio Ranieri reckons it is champagne time for Leicester as they reached the 40-point mark to guarantee Premier League safety, despite a missed penalty in a goalless draw at home to 10-man Bournemouth.

In past FA Cup clashes with Tottenham, Leicester only managed three wins as the following list denotes:

2015 (4th round): Tottenham-Leicester 1-2.
2006 (3rd round): Leicester-Tottenham 3-2.
1982 (semi-final): Tottenham-Leicester 2-0.
1974 (3rd round): Leicester-Tottenham 1-0.
1961 (final): Tottenham-Leicester 2-0.
1958 (3rd round): Tottenham-Leicester 4-0.
1957 (3rd round): Tottenham-Leicester 2-0.
1948 (5th round): Tottenham-Leicester 5-2.
1928 (5th round): Leicester-Tottenham 0-3.
1914 (1st round): Leicester-Tottenham 5-5. Replay: Tottenham-Leicester 2-0.

FA Cup holders Arsenal start their title defence with a home tie against Premier League strugglers Sunderland today.

The Gunners, who have already beaten the Black Cats 3-1 in the league, have Laurent Koscielny to thank for a late winner against Newcastle which kept them top of the league standings.

A battle of two ‘Uniteds’ is scheduled for Old Trafford where Manchester take on Sheffield.

Louis Van Gaal insisted last month that he did not like competition for places, preferring instead to trust his first-team players.

It should not be lost on United fans that a clever goal took Wayne Rooney past Denis Law in the club’s all-time scoring charts as the Red Devils beat Swansea 2-1 to stay fifth in the table.

Anger has been the prevailing emotion of Van Gaal and his players during a barren six-week run with no victory.

Canaries breather

At Carrow Road, Norwich take on Manchester City in another all-big boys bash. In the league this season, the Citizens beat Norwich City 2-1 at home.

The Canaries are in the bottom half in the league but a 1-0 win over Southampton in their last outing saw them moving to a healthier place in the standings.

A solitary goal, albeit a rather special strike from Alex Tettey, was the difference on the day.

At St Mary’s Stadium, South-ampton cross swords with Crystal Palace after the Saints won 1-0 in the Premier League last month at their own den.

Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama has made an apology to his manager and team-mates following his game-changing red card against Norwich.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said he had dropped Sadio Mane because missing a pre-match meeting was “unacceptable”.

Watford still cannot believe how they lost all the points at home to Manchester City last Saturday. Today, they host Newcastle at Vicarage Road for a place in the next round of the competition.

Head coach Quique Sanchez Flores said the 2-1 defeat to City was tough to take given the performance Watford had put in.

“Watford have been unlucky with their results against the big teams in the Premier League, this season,” he lamented.

Chelsea, who appeared to have found their form against Crystal Palace, play Scunthorpe at Stamford Bridge, tomorrow.

Blues’ interim boss Guus Hiddink told reporters this week his side desperately needed the 3-0 win at Selhurst Park after a “worrying” period.

UK football fixtures

FA Cup Third Round
Arsenal-Sunderland
Birmingham-Bournemouth
Brentford-Walsall
Bury-Bradford
Colchester-Charlton
Doncaster-Stoke City
Eastleigh-Bolton Wanderers
Everton-Dagenham
Hartlepool-Derby
Huddersfield-Reading
Hull City-Brighton
Ipswich-Portsmouth
Leeds United-Rotherham
Man. United-Sheffield Utd - 18:30
Middlesbrough-Burnley
Newport-Blackburn
Northampton-MK Dons
Norwich-Man. City
Nottm Forest-QPR
Peterborough-Preston
Sheffield Wed.-Fulham
Southampton-Crystal Palace
Watford-Newcastle
West Brom-Bristol City
West Ham-Wolves
Wycombe-Aston Villa - 13:45

Tomorrow:
Cardiff-Shrewsbury - 19:00
Carlisle-Yeovil - 15:00
Chelsea-Scunthorpe - 15:00
Oxford-Swansea City - 13:00
Tottenham-Leicester - 17:00

League One
Blackpool-Port Vale
Oldham-Millwall
Rochdale-Chesterfield
Swindon-Southend

League Two
Accrington-Notts County
Barnet-Bristol Rovers
Crawley-Cambridge
Mansfield-Stevenage

In Scotland

League Two
Arbroath-Elgin City
East Fife-Berwick
Montrose-E. Stirlingshire
Queen’s Park-Annan Athletic - pp
Stirling Albion-Clyde - pp

Scottish Cup – 4th round
Airdrieonians-Dundee United
Annan-Hamilton
Dumbarton-Queen of South
Dundee FC-Falkirk
Dunfermline-Ross County
E. Kilbride-Lothian Thistle
Hearts-Aberdeen - 18:30
Linlithgow Rose-Forfar - 14.30
Livingston-Morton
Motherwell-Cove Rangers
Raith Rovers-Hibernian
St Johnstone-Kilmarnock
Stirling-Inverness CT

Tomorrow:
Rangers-Cowdenbeath - 14:00
Stranraer-Celtic - 16:15