Credit: Imago

James Barker

Mon 4 May 2026 8:10, UK

Aston Villa now have zero excuse to not only beat Nottingham Forest, but to win the Europa League after their dismal offering against Tottenham.

There were warning signs that Aston Villa may have just taken their foot off the gas against Sunderland on 19 April.

Since then, it’s been three defeats in a row for Unai Emery‘s side, and the atmosphere around Villa Park has soured rapidly.

Frustrations reached boiling point on Sunday night though, as Villa put in a shameful performance against relegation-threatened Tottenham, as the Lilywhites were practically gifted three points by the Villans.

Nottingham Forest come to Villa Park on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final, and all of a sudden, that game has so much more importance riding on a Villa win now.

How poor were Aston Villa against Tottenham?

Villa’s attitude against Tottenham has been blasted by pundits and supporters alike, as for a team that haven’t wrapped up Champions League qualification yet, you would think they had done given their performance on Sunday.

Emery made it obvious where his priorities lie with his teamsheet, as did the players, as many of them simply didn’t look like they wanted to be there against Tottenham.

There will no doubt be Villa supporters waking up on Monday morning thinking to themselves, ‘was last night’s performance just a bad dream?’

Unfortunately not, and the numbers from the Spurs defeat compound just how bad of a display it really was from the home side.

As per FotMob, Villa registered just five shots with only one on target during the entire game against Tottenham, whilst taking a mere nine touches inside the Spurs box.

They also made only five interceptions and two blocks, whilst winning 47 per cent of their ground duels and put only two accurate crosses into the box.

The first half was particularly bad from Villa, as they registered zero shots, won any corners, created any big chances or put a single accurate cross into the box.

Emery’s side also won just 40 per cent of their ground duels in the opening 45, whilst completing one successful dribble and taking three touches in the Tottenham box.

Tottenham display forces Villa to win the Europa League

From the amount of squad rotation, to the body language and effort of most players, pretty much everything about that Tottenham game signalled that Aston Villa were happy to sack that one off.

As much as the Villa Park faithful – which is largely comprised of the average hard-working supporter who pays their hard-earned money to follow their team – tried to pressure them out of that, their cries of frustration didn’t elicit much of a response on the pitch.

So, when Nottingham Forest turn up in B6 for the Europa League semi-final second leg on Thursday night, Villa fans have every right to expect to see their side running themselves into the ground.

After all, they should be well-rested, and whilst there was of course always going to be an expectation for Villa to beat Forest and reach the final, if they now fail to do so, that Spurs performance will somehow look considerably worse.

Forget just beating Forest though, the Tottenham match should only become somewhat forgivable if Aston Villa win the competition, as otherwise, it will have been for nothing.

Talk about adding unnecessary pressure on yourself.