Aston Villa vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 3PM
In what has been billed as the battle for Europa Conference League football, Aston Villa welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the West Midlands for this afternoon’s Premier League showdown.
The two continental hopefuls were on opposite ends of 1-0 derby scorelines last time out, as Unai Emery’s charges were nullified by Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Spurs came up trumps against Crystal Palace.
From scoring in each of their first 22 games under Emery to failing to fire in each of their last two, a Villa side experiencing a minor blip in form were unable to reignite their European charge at the home of West Midlands rivals Wolves.
Seeking to rectify their errors from a 1-0 loss to Manchester United at the end of April, Villa instead succumbed to a Toti Gomes header after just nine minutes, and a combination of wasteful finishing and Jose Sa heroics thwarted the Lions’ feeble attempts at a response.
Despite a pair of recent setbacks, a spot on the continent is not out of the question for Emery’s charges, who enter the weekend sitting eighth in the Premier League table and with the chance to draw level on points with Tottenham, while Brighton & Hove Albion are sandwiched in between the pair with two games in hand.
Away days have not been Villa’s speciality recently, but a return to home comforts will be welcomed with open arms by the Villa faithful, who have remarkably seen their side secure five straight wins at Villa Park without conceding a single goal, while scoring 10 themselves.
Furthermore, the Lions’ scoring streak at Villa Park stands at 13 games in all tournaments since October’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, and it has been nearly 16 years since a side last managed by Emery went scoreless in three matches – Almeria suffered such a fate under the Spaniard in the 2007-08 season.
A London derby between two sides involved in seven-goal thrillers the weekend beforehand did not live up to the billing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where another landmark Harry Kane goal was all that was needed to put Palace to the sword.
As the stadium announcer confirmed one minute of added time at the end of the first half, Kane met Pedro Porro’s cross to head home his 209th Premier League goal, overtaking Wayne Rooney into second place in the all-time charts as a result.
Aside from Kane’s milestone contribution, the derby was otherwise a forgettable one for supporters, but not for Ryan Mason, who claimed his first win from his second spell in interim charge to keep Tottenham sixth in the Premier League standings.
The Lilywhites have a six-point gap to make up to Manchester United, though, and defeat at Villa Park could end their hopes of Champions League qualification once and for all, but a nine-game scoring run in all tournaments will at least give the North London club a sliver of encouragement.
However, Spurs’ away record makes for grim reading for their supporters, as they have gone winless in eight successive road matches since January’s FA Cup triumph over Preston North End, and the New Year celebrations were quickly brought to an end when Emery led Villa to a 2-0 win over Antonio Conte’s team in January.
Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno, McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia, Watkins.
Tottenham Hotspur possible XI: Forster, Emerson, Romero, Lenglet, Davies, Porro, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Son, Richarlison, Kane.