Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur

Champions League hopefuls Tottenham Hotspur take a trip to Villa Park to take on underperforming Aston Villa in a handsomely-looking Premier League fixture.

An underwhelming 2-1 defeat away to local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out extended Aston Villa’s losing Premier League streak to three, seeing Steven Gerrard’s side slip out of the top half of the table. Yet, with 9th-placed Crystal Palace only one point away, Villa’s first top-half start in eight Premier League campaigns is still well within reach. Making that feat would require the ‘Lions’ to start winning soon, but a run of six consecutive Premier League H2H defeats at home suggests they may have to wait for a better opportunity. Despite losing 53% of their Premier League fixtures this season (16/30), the Midlanders deserve the credit for staying competitive in most of those defeats. Indeed, 12 of Villa’s top-flight reverses have come by a single-goal margin, including the last six on the trot.

On the other hand, Tottenham’s top-four pursuit is in full swing after a come-from-behind 5-1 home triumph over Newcastle United took their winning league streak to four. Antonio Conte’s men come into this matchday as one of only three sides to have picked up 15+ points across the last six Premier League rounds (W5, D1), netting a league-high 21 goals in that spread of matches. Indeed, ‘Spurs’ have developed into a rampant attacking force under Conte, having scored a staggering 43 goals across the Italian’s 20 Premier League games in charge. They will eye up another prolific weekend at the venue at which they’ve bagged 2+ goals in each of their last seven visits across all competitions. Yet, Tottenham’s indifferent away form has seen them alternate between victories (4) and defeats (3) on their last seven Premier League travels.