Tottenham Hotspur Stadium plays host to an exciting Premier League showdown between out-of-form Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa on Sunday.
Spurs will look to build on a commanding 5-1 home victory over Slovakian outfit Mura in the Europa Conference League as they bid to return to winning ways in domestic competitions.
However, Villa have outplayed Manchester United and Everton in the last two Premier League rounds and will take the field in high spirits.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head
Villa came from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1 in this exact fixture last season and could now win back-to-back league matches against this opposition for the first time since September 2008.
You have to go back to August 1995 to find the last time Villa defeated Spurs in two consecutive league meetings in London.
Tottenham have outmuscled Villa in ten of their last 12 Premier League encounters (L2), prevailing by at least a two-goal margin on eight occasions.
Tottenham Hotspur Preview
Arsenal brutally punished Tottenham’s lacklustre performance in the north London derby last time out, claiming a comprehensive 3-1 victory to inflict a third consecutive Premier League defeat on their underperforming rivals.
The Londoners last suffered four top-flight losses on the trot in November 2004, losing six straight games that time.
After racking up a hat-trick of 1-0 league triumphs back in August, Spurs headed into September’s international break sitting alone at the summit, but they have since slipped into the bottom half of the table.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s defensive-minded football that was a feature of his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers has annoyed the fans, with Tottenham netting a miserly average of just 0.66 goals per Premier League match this season.
Spurs have struggled up top, failing to score more than once in a league fixture this term while netting just one first-half goal in three Premier League outings on home turf.
Player to watch: Harry Kane
Following a record-equalling 2020/21 Premier League campaign, Kane has started the new season with a whimper rather than a bang, drawing a blank in all five top-flight appearances to date.
Widely regarded as one of the most influential players in the Premier League, the England captain has smashed the 20-goal barrier in five of his last seven league campaigns.
After bagging a hat-trick against Mura in the Conference League, Kane will be eager to translate his European form to domestic football, starting this Sunday.
Aston Villa Preview
Aston Villa stunned Man United 1-0 at Old Trafford last time out despite facing 28 shots on goal, including Bruno Fernandes’ wayward last-gasp penalty.
Dean Smith’s men have enjoyed an upturn in form heading into this matchday, going from a two-game winless Premier League run (D1, L1) to back-to-back league wins ‘to nil.’
Villa last won three straight top-flight matches in October 2020, so they will hope the history repeats itself this time around.
Since the start of last season, Villa have won three of their seven Premier League matches against London sides in the capital (D1, L3), as many wins as they had in their previous 29 such fixtures (D4, L22).
The visitors’ cagey first-half approach has seen them fail to get on the scoresheet before half-time in each of their three league games away from home this term.
Player to watch: Danny Ings
Villa paid Southampton £25 million to sign Ings this summer, which has so far proved to be the money well spent.
The 29-year-old striker has clocked up two goals and a pair of assists in his first six Premier League appearances for the Midlands outfit.
Despite failing to score in his last two league outings away from Villa Park, Ings deserves special attention having netted four times in his last three competitive matches against Tottenham.
Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa Predicted Line-ups
Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Hugo Lloris; Emerson Royal, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Sergio Reguilon; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Giovani Lo Celso, Dele Alli; Lucas Moura, Harry Kane, Heung-min Son.
Aston Villa (3-5-2): Emiliano Martinez; Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause, Ezri Konsa; Matty Cash, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, Matt Targett; Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings.
Read: Premier League: Predicted Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1) vs Brighton & Hove Albion.
