Aston Villa will host fellow top-four contenders Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday. After a 0-0 Europa Conference League match with Ajax, the Lions are back in the first flight. The Lilywhites overcame a goal deficit to defeat Crystal Palace 3-1 the previous weekend.
Preview (Aston Villa vs. Tottenham Hotspur)
Head coach of the Lions, Unai Emery, attempted to turn his unmatched Europa League success into Europa Conference League prominence with Aston Villa. He oversaw a dramatic match against Ajax in the first leg of their last-16 encounter. Both teams had a man sent off in the last moments. Villa left Amsterdam with a creditable goalless draw under their belts, despite two bookable offenses from Ezri Konsa and Tristan Gooijer. As a result, they are the favorites to continue their European journey at home in the second leg next week.
The Lions are attempting to win four straight Premier League games before their pursuit of continental dominance resumes. They have defeated Fulham, Nottingham Forest, and Luton Town—the latter victory coming from a last-minute header by Lucas Digne—to reclaim first place in the race for Champions League football. With a game remaining, Emery’s team, now sitting fourth in the table with a five-point deficit to Tottenham. It will seriously undermine the Lilywhites’ hopes of finishing in the top four with a win on Sunday. It would also be their first winning run of four games in the top flight this season.
Even though the hosts tend to give up goals in the top division—they have given up multiple goals in four of their last six Premier League games—their incredible scoring streak at Villa Park now stands at 27 top-flight games since they drew with Chelsea in October 2022. Spurs fans in 2024 will remember that last Saturday saw the first Premier League home loss of the season. Early in the second half, Palace’s Eberechi Eze scorched a fierce free kick beyond Guglielmo Vicario’s grasp.
Team News
Both Konsa and Pau Torres, whose halftime withdrawal on Thursday night was prearranged, will be OK to start in the Villa backline here because the sanctions from the Europa Conference League have no bearing on domestic football. Emiliano Buendia (knee), Boubacar Kamara (knee), Tyrone Mings (knee), and Jon Duran (hamstring) are still sidelined for Emery, and Jacob Ramsey (foot) had to be substituted off the pitch early against Luton and will need to be evaluated further this coming weekend. Changes that are required should help Matt Cash, Leon Bailey, and Diego Carlos go back to the rearguard. Tim Iroegbunam and Morgan Rogers will be replaced by Tim Bailey and John McGinn in the hosts’ starting lineup.
Regarding Tottenham’s availability, Postecoglou stated before the victory over Palace that Richarlison would miss a few weeks due to a knee injury. Richarlison will not be available this weekend, as Postecoglou announced on Friday. However, there is good news: Pedro Porro has fully recovered from the strain. It has kept him out of action for the last two games. The visitors’ guaranteed absences for Sunday’s match are Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Fraser Forster (foot), and Manor Solomon (knee).
Aston Villa 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
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