Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa – Preview, Lineups, Score Prediction | OneFootball

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Tottenham Hotspur will take on Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, with the Villans heading to the capital to face a Spurs side in good form and showing promise under Thomas Frank.

Spurs and Villa have been well matched in recent seasons, taking points off each other. Last season both sides picked up home wins, with Aston Villa prevailing in the FA Cup at Villa Park too. In the campaign prior to last, either side notched up a win on the road. In the 2021/22 season, Spurs did the double over Aston Villa, with the Villans returning the favour in the 2022/23 campaign.

Tottenham went into the international break with a win over Leeds United, and Spurs attacker Mathys Tel felt his goal in the game was more than justified.

Spurs’ form has been patchy, as they could only manage a draw against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League, with Thomas Frank admitting he needed to revisit the match to look at whether they were bettered physically, and gave a struggling Wolves side their first point for the season after drawing against Brighton the previous weekend.

Tottenham will want to find their feet quickly after the international break and Frank will hope that Lucas Bergvall can shrug off the disappointment he had on Sweden duty.

Aston Villa have now embarked upon a four-game winning streak, picking up wins against Fulham and Burnley in the Premier League while prevailing over Bologna and Feyenoord in the Europa League.

Emery will know that with his own side’s form in the uptick, now is the ideal time, if any, to take on Tottenham.

However, he has warned that he expects tough times to return as Aston Villa’s journey is not smooth.

With games against Manchester City and Liverpool to immediately follow in the league, the Villans will be desperate to come away from London with something, despite expecting a tough game; Donyell Malen recently dubbed Tottenham ‘very good’.

Recent Form (league)

Tottenham Hotspur: WDDWL Aston Villa: WWDDL

Key Men

Tottenham Hotspur

Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert both scored for France Under-21s against both the Faroe Islands and Estonia, while also picking up an assist each against the Baltic side. They will want to make the most of their chances with Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani nearing a return from injury.

Mohammed Kudus has become a creative force in Thomas Frank’s side and has five assists in all competitions. In Dejan Kulusevski’s absence a lot of Tottenham’s good work goes through him and Kudus will have to be on his game for Spurs to be creative.

Lucas Bergvall’s good domestic form saw him championed for the national team by a former legend. Bergvall finally got his chance, but missed gilt-edged opportunities against Switzerland, while also starting in the defeat against Kosovo. Jon Dahl Tomasson has been subsequently sacked.

Aston Villa

Morgan Rogers became the third Aston Villa player after Gareth Barry and Gareth Southgate to feature in ten or more consecutive games for England over the break. Rogers scored his first England goal against Wales and will want to showcase what he is all about against Spurs, as Villa are rumoured to be preparing a new contract for their star player. Rogers is quickly becoming talismanic for the Villans, with Villa’s fortunes going as Rogers goes.

Ollie Watkins scored his first goal for the season against Fulham and has one in seven now, after scoring 16 goals in the Premier League last season. Watkins will want to quickly return to scoring form and build on his goal against Wales, injury permitting, as a spot in the England team is at stake.

Donyell Malen was on the double against Burnley, highlighting how much more effective he is in central areas rather than out wide. Malen will know that the best way to convince his boss to continue playing him in central areas is to keep producing.

Match Prediction

The two sides are seemingly trending in the opposite direction in terms of form, with Aston Villa on the ascendancy while Spurs are regressing.

To complicate predictions, Spurs have only gained 1.33 points per game at home, while the Villans have been even worse away at 0.67 ppg.

Aston Villa have a slightly worse xG of 6.13 from their seven league games so far compared to Spurs’ 7.53 despite having more shots on target from both inside and outside the box, a likely remnant of the desperation from their early season struggles; Villa currently have six goals from their league games, while Tottenham have 13.

With the two sides evenly matched in recent seasons and form offering no gleanings, this is a game that could go either way or as a stalemate.

Emery will want something to show for recent form and a positive away result to Spurs will be something to pride themselves on.

Spurs’ form and injury issues make it an opportune window to play them and whether Villa will have the courage to do that on the day remains to be seen.

Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Aston Villa

Where To Watch?

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa in the Premier League will be live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League for a 14:00 kick-off in the UK.