Sunday’s Premier League action kicks off in north London as Tottenham Hotspur take on Aston Villa.
There were contrasting fortunes for the two teams in midweek as Spurs bypassed eight-time Carabao Cup winners Manchester City to advance into the quarter-finals of the competition. A rotated Villa outfit, meanwhile, were beaten by Crystal Palace 2-1 on home soil.
Unai Emery, though, has bigger fish to fry and his team have made an excellent start to building on their fourth-place Premier League finish from last season. They currently sit fourth and are five points better off than Sunday’s hosts in the table.
Tottenham’s laughable inconsistency and inability to claim points away from home means they enter this game in eighth. They were dire last weekend at Crystal Palace, but their form at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been impressive this season and a performance akin to what they produced on Wednesday should see them earn a much-needed Premier League triumph this weekend.
Here’s 90min’s guide to Tottenham vs Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham vs Aston Villa H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Tottenham |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
|
Tottenham 2-1 Man City – 30/10/24 |
Aston Villa 1-2 Crystal Palace – 30/10/24 |
|
Crystal Palace 1-0 Tottenham – 27/10/24 |
Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth – 26/10/24 |
|
Tottenham 1-0 AZ Alkmaar – 24/10/24 |
Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna – 22/10/24 |
|
Tottenham 4-1 West Ham – 19/10/24 |
Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa – 19/10/24 |
|
Brighton 3-2 Tottenham – 06/10/24 |
Aston Villa 0-0 Man Utd – 06/10/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+, Sky Ultra HD |
|
United States |
fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, Telemundo |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada |
Son Heung-min has missed Spurs’ last three outings having starred against West Ham two weeks ago, but there’s hope the captain will be fit for Sunday’s game.
The hosts, though, will be without Micky van de Ven after he picked up a hamstring injury on Wednesday. As a result, Radu Dragusin will be handed a rare Premier League start alongside Cristian Romero.
Wilson Odobert’s injury setback has delayed his return to action, with Spurs also without Djed Spence for Sunday’s game.
Tottenham predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Bissouma, Kulusevski, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Villa are bereft of injury woes after Tyrone Mings made his long-awaited return from a knee injury with a start against Crystal Palace in midweek. The left-footed centre-back will not be included in Emery’s XI on Sunday, however.
Boubacar Kamara is also back in contention and pushing for midfield minutes, but Villa will likely enter this fixture with Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana starting in the middle of the park.
Matty Cash, Morgan Rogers, Pau Torres, Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne are among the players rested on Wednesday who will return to Emery’s starting XI.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Onana; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
Aston Villa triumphed at this ground last season and are out for revenge having been battered 4-0 by the Lilywhites in their previous duel at Villa Park.
Unlike their hosts, Emery’s preferred starting XI is fresh for Sunday’s game with the majority rested in midweek. A number of Ange Postecoglou’s starters will be running on fumes following their slog with City.
Spurs have been excellent at home so far this season and will undoubtedly enjoy periods of superiority, but key injuries could compromise them on Sunday. Van de Ven’s absence is a huge blow and a Villa side that boasts one of the league’s best channel-runners in Watkins should capitalise.
Expect a back-and-forth game edged by the away side, much like last season’s encounter in N17.
