Tottenham Desperate for a Road Win over Villa | OneFootball

Aston Villa host Tottenham at Villa Park in the Premier League this Sunday, with Spurs needing points in their battle to avoid relegation. 

Roberto De Zerbi picked up his first win as Tottenham manager (and it was the club’s first league win in 2026) with a 1-0 victory over Wolves last week, but it was far from a convincing performance. Spurs stumbled over the line with an 82nd minute winner from João Palhinha. The win was the main aim, but it was soured by the ACL injury that Xavi Simons picked up. 

Simons had been the brightest spark under De Zerbi and looked the one Tottenham player capable of producing the moments of magic needed to get them out of their current malaise. As it stands Tottenham are 18th and two points behind West Ham. West Ham face Brentford this weekend and have won two of their last three league games. 

De Zerbi: “No Crying”

De Zerbi says his troops have to stay positive though: “The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us, inside of the players, inside of the staff and inside of the fans. This voice can produce negative thoughts.

“OK it is not the best moment for us, it is a tough moment, a difficult moment, but the losers cry. The losers think negative. I don’t want people close to me crying or to think in a different way to me.

“We are good enough to win the games and we are good enough to stay up.”

Will Villa be Distracted by Europe?

It will not be an easy game against an Aston Villa side who are in a Europa League semi-final. Unai Emery’s side played and lost the first leg 1-0 against Nottingham Forest.

The second leg of the tie is straight after the Tottenham game, and the fact the league game is sandwiched in between two of the biggest games in Villa’s recent history means Emery might rest players for the second leg and Spurs could be the beneficiaries. 

But Emery kept his cards close to his chest regarding any rotation: “Each match is very important, we are involved in the Premier League in game week 35 and we are focusing on it as a priority – to be consistent and be demanding to achieve a huge challenge to be back in the Champions League.

“There are teams behind us performing well. We must focus on our own matches and try to get points. The first one is on Sunday against Tottenham. I am positive, I am delighted with the position we are in the league. Fantastic consistency but still the last challenge is to play.”

Villa are in mixed form, having lost their last two games without scoring. But in the two matches before that they scored eight goals and won both. 

Tottenham have a poor recent record against Villa. Their last win against them came at the end of 2024, and have lost their last four games against Emery’s side in all competitions.