Aston Villa vs Tottenham preview, details, H2H, team news and predictions

The race for the top four is tightening up as Tottenham Hotspur will hope to reduce the gap in fourth place to only two points while Aston Villa would look to increase the point gap with 5th place to eight points when these two sides clash at Villa Park on Super Sunday.

The Villains currently sit fourth in the Premier League standings on 55 points while Spurs are five points adrift in fifth place, so fans with Tottenham tickets are praying for a positive result tomorrow.

Both teams recorded victories in their last respective domestic matches. Villa survived a scare as Luton Town rallied from two goals down to draw the game level only for an 89th-minute winner from Lucas Digne to seal all three points for Villa who were completely dominated in the second half of the game

It was a dominant first half for Villa who had all the first nine shots on goal with Luton barely stringing together three passes. Ollie Watkins rose highest to connect with Leon Bailey’s corner-kick in the 24th minute to give Villa the deserved lead.

Douglas Luiz’ through ball unlocked Luton’s defence and was met by Watkins who once again struck past Luton’s goalkeeper, Thomas Kaminski.

The Hatters came out guns-blazing in the second half as they became more dominant in the game. A Luton corner kick led to scrambles in the goalmouth area before Tahith Chong struck home to half the deficit in the 66th minute of the game.

Rob Edward’s side continued to exert pressure on Villa and found the deserved equaliser six minutes later when set-piece specialist, Alfie Doughty whipped in a Ward-Prowse-esque delivery from the far left which completed went past the entire Villa’s defence to meet Carlton Morris who taped the ball into the net to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

Luton came closest to finding the winner but Unai Emery’s side had the last laugh as Moussa Diaby’s lofted cross was met by Digne at the far post to head home the winner.

The Villains also took their run of form to the conference League but couldn’t do much as they were held to a nil-nil draw with Ajax Amsterdam.

For Spurs, they rallied back from a goal down to score three goals in eleven minutes to defeat London rivals, Crystal Palace 3:1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend.

Eberechi Eze gave the away side the lead in the 59th minute with an exquisite free-kick that flew past Guglielmo Vicario.

Ange Postecoglou brought on Brennan Johnson who played a pivotal role in Tottenham’s equaliser as his brilliant assist was turned home by Timo Werner in the 77th minute of the game.

Spurs took the lead soon after through Cristian Romero’s header and Son Heung-Min put the game to bed with a goal in the dying minutes of the game after being put through on goal by the impressive Johnson.

Attention now turns to the blockbuster Premier League clash at Villa Park on Sunday as a win for either team would be a bit determinant on their Champions League aspirations ahead of next season.

Aston Villa v Tottenham match details 

Location: Birmingham, England

Stadium: Villa Park

Date: Sunday, 10 March 2024

Kick-off time: 13:00 GMT / 08:00 ET / 05:00 PT

Referee: Chris Kavanagh

Fourth Official: Darren Bond

VAR: Tim Robinson

Match stats and head-to-head 

• Tottenham have only recorded victory in one of their last six Premier League matches away from home, losing two and drawing three despite scoring more than two goals consecutively in those fixtures.

• Spurs’ consecutive scoring streak in all their 26 League matches under head coach, Postecoglou is the best run of a consecutive scoring streak in a manager’s first season in the top-flight since Arthur Rowe’s led Tottenham side scored in 27 consecutive games and eventually clinching the title in the 1950-52 season.

• Villa have defeated Spurs in their last three Premier League encounters, their best winning streak over the north London side since January 1996 when they won four in a row.

• Watkins’ 16 goals in the Premier League this season is the most by any player for Villa since Christian Benteke in 2012-13 and Dwight Yorke in 1995-96 where they both scored 19 and 17 goals respectively.

• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and former Spurs striker, Harry Kane have recorded more goal involvements than Tottenham’s captain, Son

• The 3-1 victory over Palace was the ninth consecutive Premier League game in which Spurs have scored and conceded in the same game.

•  The Lilywhites have conceded first for the fourth match in a row since the beginning of 2024.

• The Villains have conceded at least two goals in four of their last six Premier League matches

• Emery’s side have scored in 27 consecutive top-flight games at Villa Park with the last game they failed to score coming in the 0:0 draw against Chelsea in October 2022.

Team News 

Ezri Konsa was shown a red card in the Europa Conference League match against Ajax but is in contention to feature against Spurs as suspensions in European competitions do not count in domestic completions.

Pau Torres was withdrawn at half-time during the clash with Ajax but the withdrawal was more tactical than precautionary.

The Villains continue to be without Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings who continue to be out with knee injuries respectively.

Colombian centre-forward, Jhon Duran remains out with a hamstring injury while Jacob Ramsey will undergo assessment after being withdrawn early in the first half in the 3:2 win over Luton.

For Spurs, Richarlison rebuffed claims from his manager that he’d be out for a few weeks, confirming that he’d be okay for the clash against Villa.

Pedro Porro returned to full training and will be in contention for the trip to Villa Park.

Pape Matar Sarr is being closely monitored following a niggling back problem.

Long-term absentees include Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster and Manor Solomon who are all sidelined with hamstring, foot and knee injuries respectively.

Predicted starting line-up 

Aston Villa predicted starting lineup:

Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Carlos, Moreno; Diaby, Luiz, McGinn, Bailey; Tielemans; Watkins

Tottenham Hotspur predicted starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Werner; Son

Prediction

With both side’s knack for scoring and conceding, a high-scoring, end-to-end attack from both teams is expected in this match.

The winner of the game could ultimately depend on the team with the better defence and in this case, Villa are the better side defensively and should emerge winners in this tie.