On Sunday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur will play host to Unai Emery’s high-flying Aston Villa side, with a victory representing the chance for the Midlands club to move above Tottenham and into the top four.
Tottenham will be hoping to avoid any kind of upset at home with Ange Postecoglou’s team looking to bounce back to winning ways after the previous two fixtures have seen them slump to a disappointing loss against Chelsea before Wolves scored two goals late-on at Molineux to inflict the second Premier League loss of the season onto Spurs.
In the opposite dugout, Unai Emery will be looking to maintain Aston Villa’s momentum. The side in claret and blue come off the back of an excellent run of form which has seen them climb all the way to fifth in the table, just one point behind Tottenham.
The Villans have lost just once in their previous nine games in all competitions, thrashing the likes of Brighton, West Ham and Fulham. In addition, the Midlands club are unbeaten against London opposition so far this campaign, winning three out of three.
However, this new look albeit injury depleted Spurs side will represent a stern challenge for Villa in what promises to be a contest full of goalmouth action.
Team News
Tottenham
Unfortunately for Tottenham and manager Postecoglou, the already comprehensive list of injury concerns for Tottenham has only grown over the international break, with Ashley Philipps suffering an ankle injury while representing England U19s while Pape Matar Sarr is also a doubt after picking up a knock on duty for Senegal.
Elsewhere, Son Heung-Min played two full 90 minute games for South Korea, in which they beat Singapore and China with the South Korean captain picking up three goals across the two games.
Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies also both featured for Wales with the primary coming off the bench against Armenia before leading the line against Turkey in the following game. Meanwhile, Davies captained the country for both fixtures in the absence of Cardiff player Aaron Ramsey.
Discussing the team news, Postecoglou said: “We've got a couple of issues. Young Ash Phillips picked up an ankle injury so he will be out for a little while, which is disappointing for him. And we just need to have a look at Pape Sarr because he has a bit of an issue as well so we will see how is over the next 24-48 hours. Everyone else has come back okay.”
Ivan Perisic, James Maddison, Micky Van der Ven, Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma will all also be out for Sunday’s game. Perisic is a long term absentee while both Maddison and Van der Ven are expected to return in the New Year following their respective ankle and hamstring injuries.
Both Romero and Bissouma are ruled out due to suspensions, with the Argentine defender set to miss Tottenham’s next two fixtures while Bissouma is ruled out after picking up too many yellow cards.
In more positive news, young full-back Destiny Udogie will return after injury and suspension.
Aston Villa
Meanwhile for Aston Villa, Unai Emery will be without Bertrand Traore and long term absentees, Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia who both suffered cruciate ligament tears in August.
The Villans have come through the international break largely unscathed with Emi Martinez, Matty Cash, John McGinn, Leon Bailey and Nicolo Zaniolo all expected to overcome minor injuries.
In addition, Aston Villa have enjoyed a massive injury boost with Jacob Ramsey, who has played just two games this season, returning back to first team training after recovering from a broken metatarsal.
Likely Line-Ups
Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Dier, Davies, Udogie; Hojberg, Sarr, Skipp; Brennan Johnson, Heung-Min Son, Kulusevski
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Luiz, Kamara, McGinn, Zaniolo; Watkins, Diaby
Key Players
Tottenham: Pierre-Emile Hojberg
With Bissouma and Maddison ruled out of tomorrow’s game as well as Sarr being an injury doubt, there will be a lot resting on Hojberg’s shoulders in the middle of the park if Tottenham are to get the victory they need tomorrow.
The Dane played the full 90 minutes in his country’s win over Slovenia before coming off the bench to feature in the eventual surprise 2-0 loss to Northern Ireland.
Hojberg has seen his role in the first eleven diminish under Postecoglou so far this campaign, however, with injury woes troubling the Australian, Hojberg can present his case for more regular starts with Spurs needing one of their most experienced players to play a vital role in a much depleted midfield tommorow.
Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins
Watkins has been the man in-form for Aston Villa so far this season with the Englishman scoring six and assisting five across the opening 12 Premier League games as well as two in Europe.
In addition, the striker picked up his ninth England cap against North Macedonia in the international break with the 27 year-old leading the line for Gareth Southgate’s side as Harry Kane was rested.
With his constant harrying of defences and excellent runs in-behind, Watkins has the potential to be the difference in tomorrow’s game with the striker set to face up to the relatively unused Eric Dier and Ben Davies as he looks to help his side to another important victory.
Match Details
Where is this game being played?
Sunday’s exciting contest will be played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has a capacity of 62,850 making it the largest stadium in London.
What time is kick-off?
Tomorrow’s game will get underway at 14:00 (GMT), representing Sunday’s early afternoon fixture.
Where can I watch the game?
The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports with the coverage of the game beginning at 13:00 (GMT). Following the game, highlights will be available on BBC’s Match of the Day and Sky Sports for UK viewers.
