Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur: Preview and Prediction
As the caravan of the 2022-23 Premier League is nearing its consummation, we are bound to witness action-packed battles between English combatants in the final weeks.
It is going to be an exciting contest of football between two English top-flight sides who are struggling to cope through the mid-table. The forthcoming clash between Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur will be held at the fortress of the Lions, Villa Park this Saturday.
The London Whites are currently seated in sixth position in the Premier League race after trailing by five points against the fifth-placed Liverpool side. UEFA Champions League qualification seems out of the picture for the Lilywhites now however, they can still aim for the ticket to Europa League to stay alive in continental football.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa has occupied eighth place in the EPL points table after attaining 35 points consisting of 16 wins and 6 draws from 35 fixtures till now. The Villans will be achieving a historic feat if they finish inside the Top 10 of the English top-flight football league as the Birmingham-based outfit has done the same since 2011.
Current Form
The Villans continued their unbeaten run in April to extend it to nine games before it was broken by Manchester United on the last day of the month. It was followed by another away defeat for Villa as Wolverhampton Wanderers won all three points.
The hopes of North London on the young shoulders of Ryan Mason
On the other hand, the North London-based club which was struggling to be competitive in the Premier League during the tenures of Antonio Conte and Christian Stellini suddenly seems to stabilize since the appointment of Ryan Mason as an acting manager. They held the Red Devils for a 2-2 settlement at home in his first game but also suffered a heart-breaking defeat by 4-3 at the hands of Liverpool after conceding an injury-time winner of Diogo Jota.
Head-to-Head Record
These two English outfits have faced each other 54 times at the grandest stage of the Premier League and the Spurs are currently leading the head-to-head record of those encounters with 24 victories over their counterparts.
Meanwhile, the Aston Villa side has managed to emerge victorious against the London Whites only on 15 occasions and the same number of games have resulted in draws between them.
When the Villans ran riots at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
The most recent chapter of this rivalry was staged on the day of New Year 2023 when the Claret and Blues stunned the home team in front of a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The first half witnessed a neck-to-neck contest between these combatants where the scoreline remained unaffected as the deadlock was finally broken by Emiliano Buendia in the 50th minute. Then the Brazilian holding midfielder Douglas Luiz stepped up and netted the second goal of the night to grab all three points for the Lions.
Team News
There are no fresh injury concerns for the Villa boss Unai Emery as he is likely to name an unchanged lineup against the Lilywhites despite being pointless from the last two matchdays. There’s also a possibility that we may see Matty Cash’s presence on the substitute bench as the Polish right-back has speeded up his recovery from a calf injury.
The Spurs skipper Hugo Lloris has been ruled out of the rest of the season owing to a knee injury and is also rumored to not return to don the Whites due to his links with Saudi Arabia move.
Another veteran goalkeeper Fraser Forster has stepped up to fill the void of the French guardian and recently kept his first clean sheet against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Eric Dier was replaced by Emerson Royal in the back-three aftermath of Liverpool’s defeat and the 24-year-old Brazilian defender is expected to feature in the Tottenham starting XI.
Predicted Starting XIs
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Emiliano Martinez; Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Alex Moreno; Bertrand Traore, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey; Emiliano Buendia, Ollie Watkins
Tottenham Hotspur (3-4-3): Fraser Forster; Emerson Royal, Cristian Romero, Clement Lenglet; Pedro Porro, Oliver Skipp, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ben Davies; Heung-min Son, Harry Kane, Richarlison
Prediction
Whether it’s the head-to-head record or current form, the key prediction aspects are in favor of the Lilywhites to emerge victorious from this forthcoming contest. However, the Villans will be turning up for this home fixture with high spirits after having a psychological edge over Tottenham after defeating them on their own turf earlier this season.
The Spurs have conceded 15 goals in the past five fixtures despite keeping a clean sheet recently and Unai Emery and his boys must target the defensive weakness in order to succeed.