Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Venue: White Hart Lane
Kick off: 3pm
Tim Sherwood takes his Aston Villa side to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday looking to prove a point to his former employers.
Sacked by Spurs last summer despite having won half of his Premier League games in charge, Sherwood’s return to White Hart Lane provides an intriguing subplot to a match which has implications for both the relegation battle and race for Europe.
Tottenham pretty much waved goodbye to their top-four hopes by virtue of their bore draw with Burnley last Sunday, which left them seven points adrift of Manchester City with as many games of the season remaining.
Finishing in their current position of sixth and a run to the Capital One Cup final would be reasons for Tottenham fans to be cheerful, but their biggest positive this term is undoubtedly the development of their home-grown talent.
By the time that Sherwood was let go by Spurs at the end of last season, he had already earned himself a fair few admirers in the game for his enthusiasm and honesty. It seemed only a matter of time before he picked up another Premier League job.
The 46-year-old was linked to both West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers before he snapped up the chance to take over at Villa Park. The Midlands club have benefitted from his positivity, but remain firmly in the relegation dogfight.
Sherwood admitted upon his arrival that getting Christian Benteke back to top form was going to be key to Villa’s survival chances, and the Belgian striker has responded with seven goals in his last five matches.
While there is the potential distraction of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final of Liverpool at Wembley to look forward to, Sherwood must focus completely on Villa’s league fortunes or risk being spat out by the Premier League as he was last summer.
Spurs possible starting lineup:
Vorm; Chiriches, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Kane
Villa possible starting lineup:
Guzan; Bacuna, Vlaar, Clark, Richardson; N’Zogbia, Cleverley, Sanchez, Delph; Agbonlahor, Benteke.