Tottenham v Aston Villa preview: Team news, head-to-head, betting odds, prediction
Unai Emery will be eager to return to winning ways when his Aston Villa side travel to face Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday (3 November).
Crystal Palace eliminated the Villans from the Carabao Cup on Wednesday [30 October], as Eberechi Eze and Daichi Kamada scored either side of Jhon Duran at Villa Park.
Tottenham, meanwhile, pulled off a big victory over Manchester City to march on into the quarter-finals of the competition.
Preview
Villa got the last laugh over Tottenham last season, pipping Ange Postecoglou’s side to a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League thus claiming the final Champions League spot.
However, Emery’s side have lost their touch in the past two outings – the Crystal Palace loss piling on further misery after Evanilson salvaged a draw at Villa Park last weekend with his 96th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth.
Tottenham, on the other hand, are fresh off that surprise 2-1 win against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, although they did lose 1-0 to London rivals Crystal Palace in their most recent Premier League game.
Jhon Duran is perhaps the only Villa player who can hold his head high after the loss in midweek as he continued his incredible goal-scoring form. Emery can no longer leave the Colombian out cold and should find a way to integrate both him and Watkins into his starting lineup in North London.
The Villans are out of form heading into the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but the joint-top Champions League league phase leaders cannot be counted out in what will surely be a fiercely contested tie between the Champions League hopefuls.
Form Guide [Premier League]
Tottenham: LWLWW
Aston Villa: DWDDW
Head-to-Head [all competitions]
Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham [10 March, 2024]
Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa [26 November, 2023]
Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham [13 May, 2023]
Tottenham 0-2 Aston Villa [1 January 2023]
Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham [9 April, 2022]
Team News
Unai Emery will have a fully-fit Villa squad to choose from for the trip to North London but will still need to get his team selection right to return to Birmingham with all three points.
For Tottenham, Son Heung-min was rested for the midweek clash against Manchester City and will be assessed ahead of facing Villa.
Micky van de Ven is a confirmed absentee for the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he sustained another hamstring injury midweek, as is William Oderbert.
Djed Spence is facing a race against time to be declared fit for the weekend and could make the matchday squad for Spurs.
Predicted lineups
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie, Kulusevski, Bissouma, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Son
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, McGinn, Onana, Tielemans, Ramsey, Rogers, Watkins
Betting Odds
Tottenham – 10/11
Draw – 3/1
Aston Villa – 13/5
Prediction: Tottenham 2-2 Aston Villa
Villa may have suffered a couple of disappointing results, especially exiting a cup they would have fancied winning, they will back their chances of beating Spurs.
Postecoglou’s side have struggled for form away from home this season, but the 4-1 win against West Ham United on home soil proves how dangerous his side can be with the supporters on side.
Emery has a host of attacking talent in his arsenal and he will be looking to take full advantage against an unpredictable Spurs side, particularly one that is without Van de Ven.
However, both sides are top-heavy heading into this match-up and a shoot-out is expected in North London. If a winner is crowned, it will be down to who can outscore who.
In other Aston Villa news, striker Jhon Duran has been hit with a hefty punishment.
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