Aston Villa welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Villa Park in a huge Super Sunday Night Football clash in the race for Europe.
Should Arsenal win earlier on Sunday at West Ham, victory would see Villa return to ninth whereas Tottenham could go fifth with a win and move seven points clear of the Villains.
Team News
Jack Grealish could return for Aston Villa after missing their last five matches with a calf injury, although Dean Smith will hand the England international a late fitness test on Sunday morning.
Kortney Hause (foot) and Bertrand Traore (hip) are also expected to feature but Wesley (knee) remains absent.
Tottenham will be without Erik Lamela after he was red-carded in their North London derby defeat at Arsenal last Sunday.
Son Heung-min (muscle) is also ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa have won just one of their last five league meetings against Tottenham (W1, L4).
- Tottenham have dropped just two points in their last nine league trips to Villa Park (W7, D2).
- Spurs have had one player net two goals in each of their last two trips to Villa ( Harry Kane – March 2016, Son Heung-min – February 2020).
- Seven of Ollie Watkins’ ten league goals for Villa this season have come at Villa Park.
- Erik Lamela’s red card against Arsenal last weekend was Tottenham’s first red card in 39 away games in all competitions since Son was red-carded at Everton in early November 2019.
Prediction
Villa will be relieved to have escaped Newcastle with a point after finding themselves in one of the scrappiest contests of this season, despite playing well across defence and attack but a momentary error cost them the win after claiming a late lead.
Tottenham meanwhile were all-round sloppy at Arsenal with several wasted opportunities and poor defending, which they carried into Thursday’s shambolic Europa League exit at Dinamo Zagreb in which defence and midfield were just careless to say the least.
This game therefore is now a must-win for both teams because if Villa win this then they’re right back in the race for an European spot, whereas Tottenham simply need to raise their game otherwise I can see their dominant run in this fixture ending here.
We however must acknowledge that this is Spurs’ 47th game this season in all competitions and I do wonder if fatigue is setting in like we saw for Wolves last season, so I am punting for a shock Villa win here if Tottenham fail to deliver.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Result: Aston Villa 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
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