Tottenham Hotspur face Aston Villa in a massive clash at the foot of the Premier League table.
Victory would lift Tottenham up to 13th in the table, whilst Villa can climb out of the relegation zone at Spurs’ expense and up to 15th with a win.
Team News
Tottenham will welcome Sandro Tonali back into contention after he missed their 2-1 Carabao Cup exit at Liverpool due to a knock.
Pedro Porro (muscle) and James Maddison (shoulder) are available for selection, but Mykhailo Mudryk (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons (both ACL) remain sidelined.
Villa will welcome midfielder, Joao Gomes back after he missed their 3-1 win at Coventry in the Carabao Cup due to a minor calf injury.
Goalkeeper, Marco Bizot however is ruled out after he suffered a back injury during that match.
Modu Cisse (unspecified), Pau Torres (hamstring), Brian Madjo, Ian Maatsen (both ankle), Leon Goretzka (knee) and Amadou Onana (ACL) remain sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Tottenham host Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 19 September at 12:30pm BST, live on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham have won three of their last five league meetings against Villa (W3, L2).
- Villa have won three of their last four league trips to Tottenham (W3, L1).
- This fixture was won by 2-1 results last season by the team playing away from home, as Villa won in North London then Tottenham won the reverse match at Villa Park.
- Spurs have kept clean sheets in their last two league matches which finished 0-0 against Nottingham Forest and Everton respectively.
- Villa are yet to score a top-flight away goal this season (D1, L1).
Prediction
Still without a league goal this season and a pretty poor recent record at home to Villa, Tottenham really need to find their scoring boots because they were wasteful at Liverpool despite registering more shots, otherwise there will be some questions asked going into the international break.
Villa meanwhile have found their scoring boots but their defending is still a worry as evidenced by conceding against a struggling Coventry side on Wednesday evening, even though they eventually got a comfortable win which is surely going to give them confidence coming into this test.
Both teams therefore have points to prove ahead of the three-week break but on current form, I wouldn’t be shocked if this ends in a point apiece.
Prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa
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