Aston Villa is playing host to Tottenham Hotspur on match day 35 in the Premier League this Sunday.
Aston Villa are set for two vital home games. The first one is this weekend as they are welcoming Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League before salvaging their silverware dream in the midweek as they meet Nottingham Forest in the Europa League.
This upcoming game against Spurs is as important as the next one since Unai Emery’s side is targeting sealing the Champions League spot as soon as possible. They are only one win away from securing the berth, whereas their last two games in the league will potentially be a stumbling block for them to even snatch three points. Villa would have to take on Liverpool and Manchester City in the final two fixtures.
Thus, the objective to win at home in this game is not too much to ask. The tricky part is Spurs are currently under Roberto De Zerbi. They have slowly turned into a solid team and have been fighting for their lives for safety.
Spurs are sitting on the 18th in the standings with 34 points, two points short of West Ham on the 17th and five points adrift from Nottingham Forest on the 16th.
Meanwhile, Villa are on the fifth with 58 points, the same as Liverpool on the fourth, but the Reds have a better goal difference. They are both three points behind Manchester United on the third.
Their two consecutive defeats in the Premier League and Europa League plus a 1-1 draw against Forest on the road appear to have come at a bad time. They are at the crucial stage of their campaign, in which every win matters.
Yet, they have failed to find the back of the net in the last two games and conceded on fine margins. Such is rather concerning. No wonder Emery has reminded his team to refocus and stay demanding in one game at a time, as reported on the club’s official site, avfc.co.uk.
“Yesterday, the priority was Forest in the Europa League. Now it’s a different competition, and the priority is the Premier League and being consistent and demanding through it to achieve our huge challenge to be again in the Champions League.”
“We’re analysing it, but we’re going to take a break before analysing the second leg at home next week, which is very important, but now we need to focus on the league.“
As the defensive midfielder crisis continues with the absence of Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana, Emery would most likely start Ross Barkley as the double number six alongside Youri Tielemans. At the backline, the former Villarreal boss might rotate the names with Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof at the centre in front of Emiliano Martinez while Ian Maatsen and Matty Cash would operate on both flanks.
On the attacking side, Morgan Rogers will be supporting Ollie Watkins, with possibly John McGinn and Jadon Sancho, who will be deployed on both wings. Emery could also prepare Tammy Abraham, Emi Buendia, Douglas Luiz and perhaps Harvey Elliot too to come off the bench in the second half.
The only thing which might put Villa at ease a bit is the fact that Spurs will be without nine players in this game, including their number one shot stopper, Guglielmo Vicario; Xavi Simons; Muhammed Kudus; Dejan Kulusevski; Pape Sarr; Dominic Solanke; and the skipper, Cristian Romero. De Zerbi would have to compose the best team from this squad crisis.
The Aston Villa v Tottenham encounter will be available on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Go Extra, and Sky Go UK on TV as well as live streaming. The fans can also enjoy this game on NOW TV.
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