London City Lionesses boss Maestre keen to avoid Spurs punishment | OneFootball

London City Lionesses head coach Eder Maestre is well-aware of latest opponents Tottenham Hotspur’s counter-attacking threats and he is keen for his side to avoid taking risks this weekend.

The Pride play host to Spurs at The Copperjax Community Stadium on Monday evening in the fifth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

Spurs defeated Aston Villa 7-3 last time out and London City Lionesses boss Maestre is keen for his side to limit The Lilywhites’ attacking threats in Bromley.

“It’s a very uncommon result [7-3] but this kind of result shows Spurs’ potential to be a very deadly team,” Maestre said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “I was speaking with Natalia [Arroyo] after the game and she explained that Spurs have the mindset to punish at every opportunity. We need to be aware of that.

“They’re a very talented team, they have strong players in the front-line. We need to avoid losing the ball in the build-up because they are very dangerous on the counter-attack. We need to avoid taking risks and try to play in the opponent’s half. They can suffer a little bit at the back, so if we can move the ball around well, the gaps will appear.”

Spurs and London City Lionesses occupy the fifth and sixth positions in the Barclays Women’s Super League table and have ambitions to reach the very top. When questioned about a rivalry or competition between the two clubs, Maestre preferred to speak about the here and now.

He said “I don’t know [about a rivalry]. If we look at the statistics, maybe ‘yes’ but every game is different. We need to have a humble vision and respect the fact that they are doing very well. They were able to score seven goals against Aston Villa, so we need to be aware of that.

“Maybe it’s the closest team to us in the standings and we are both looking at the teams above but we are focused on understanding the team that we are going to face [next] and understanding their strengths and weaknesses.”

Victory over Spurs will see London City Lionesses qualify for the Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals. Maestre admits that he is a big fan of the competition.

He said “For me and the club, it’s a very special competition. It’s a knockout competition with a unique chance to beat the others. It’s a competition where you see a lot of uncommon results, it’s a competition for the underdog and I love the romance of it.”

London City Lionesses’ Adobe Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 7.30pm on Monday evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.