Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium forms the backdrop for a Premier League top-four six-pointer between Tottenham and Aston Villa.

New boss Ange Postecoglou has inspired Tottenham to their best ten-game start to a new Premier League season in the 21st century (W8, D2). In doing so, he became the first-ever EPL manager to rack up 26 points in his first ten league games in charge of a top-flight club in England. However, the wheels have since come off, with injuries and suspensions contributing to Spurs’ back-to-back league defeats to Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Against the latter, Tottenham became only the eighth side in Premier League history to lose after leading in the 90th minute, suggesting the international break has come at the best possible moment for the Lilywhites. They’ll hope to bounce back after the two-week hiatus and avoid losing three league matches on the trot for the first time since February 2022.

On the other hand, Aston Villa wasted no time recovering from a shock 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on their last Premier League travel, thumping Fulham 3-1 at home to reduce the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham to a single point. But despite mustering equalling the club’s longest-ever winning streak at Villa Park of 13 matches, Unai Emery’s men have failed to offer the same quality on the road, where they’ve blown hot and cold across six Premier League games this term (W2, D1, L3). Inconsistency has seen none of Villa’s league travels produce the same outcome twice in a row, which could be a good sign, considering their poor result at the City Ground. Confidence shouldn’t be lacking after the Birmingham outfit completed a league double over Tottenham in 2022/23.