Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa Preview: Spurs look for strong start against Play-off winners

Tottenham Hotspur will get their 2019/20 season underway tomorrow as Aston Villa visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs will be looking to build on a disappointing end to the end of the last campaign, with poor end of season form topped off by defeat in the Champions League final.

Conversely, Villa ended their season with a fantastic run of form which saw them finish in fifth place in the Sky Bet Championship; before edging past West Bromwich Albion and Derby County to seal their return to the top-flight after three seasons away.

Both clubs have invested heavily this summer, with the likes of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso potentially making their Premier League debuts; whilst Villa invested in 12 new players during the transfer window.

The sides last faced each other in the F.A Cup in 2017, with goals from Ben Davies and Heung-Min Son sealing the victory for Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Team News

Tottenham will be without Dele Alli (hamstring), Ben Davies (groin), Heung-Min Son (Suspended), Juan Foyth (ankle and suspended) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring).

However long-term absentees Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama have both returned to full training with the first team in recent days and are available for selection.

New signing Giovani Lo Celso has been registered in time to feature, but the match may come too soon for him after just one training session with the squad.

Aston Villa will be without captain James Chester (hamstring), as their only enforced omission of note.

Predicted Line-Ups:

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker-Peters, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Rose; Ndombele, Winks; Lamela, Eriksen, Lucas; Kane.

Aston Villa: Heaton, Guilbert, Mings, Engels, Targett; Hourihane, McGinn, Grealish; El Ghazi, Wesley, Jota.

Tottenham maager Mauricio Pochettino | Getty Images (Tottenham Hotspur FC)

What the managers had to say

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino:

"This season will be different to the previous season, we start in our new stadium and we have a lot of positive things.

"We have to be ready for another exciting season and work hard to try and start tomorrow with the option to win the game, which is our principal objective to start with three points."

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith:

"My ambition is not to just stay up. It's not a positive message to give out, to just survive.

"We go to win every game, whether it's Spurs, Chelsea or Manchester United away. That's my mentality. The players have bought into that."