Can Aston Villa carry on fantastic form against Tottenham? | OneFootball

Tottenham host Aston Villa when the Premier League resumes this weekend. After a horrific start to the campaign, it seems Villa are on the up.

Unai Emery’s side didn’t pick up a win in any of their first six games of the season and were 18th in the Premier League after five matches played. There were rumours of discontent amongst players and Sporting Director Monchi also then departed the club. It seemed Emery’s project was in danger of completely unravelling, but four games later the script has changed entirely.

Aston Villa’s Last 10 Games. Source: Sofascore

Villa’s Resurgence

Villa have won each of the last four. They beat Bologna and Feyenoord in the Europa League, as well as Fulham and Burnley in the Premier League. They are still lower than they would like to be, at 13th after seven games – but it is a lot better than 18th.

Donyell Malen, a player who was discarded last season – confined to the bench and left out of the Champions League squad for big-name signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio – scored twice in the 2-1 win over Burnley. Now that both Rashford and Asensio have left the club and the slightly lesser names of Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho have replaced them, there should be a lot more opportunities for Malen.

Despite Villa’s recent resurgence, their next three Premier League opponents are Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool. If the start to the season was a test, this will be a level above.

It remains to be seen how optimistic Villa fans can be about the season ahead, and what they can viably aim for. Whilst their start to the campaign was poor, this early in the season the margins are still tight. They are only four points off fifth-placed Manchester City.

And given teams like Bournemouth and Crystal Palace have started so well and are above the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United, there is no reason why Villa cannot still aim for a Champions League place.

Strong Against Spurs

The Midlands side have a strong record against Tottenham, winning five of the last seven meetings between the two clubs. Unai Emery has been the Villa manager since that run began, whilst Tottenham have had three permanent managers and two interim managers in that period – which goes back to their meeting on 1st January 2023.

Tottenham have had a very mixed start to the season. They got off to a flying start with four wins from their first five games in all competitions but since then things have taken a downward turn: winning just two of their last five. They are, however, still third in the table and two points behind leaders Arsenal. It remains to be seen whether they can actually challenge for the title, but all-in, Thomas Frank has made a very strong start to life in north London.

This Sunday’s fixture promises to be an entertaining game, given Spurs have scored ten goals in their last five games and Villa have scored nine in their last five.