The battle to secure Europa League football continues this weekend as sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur travel to eighth-placed Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s hot-streak in the Villa Park dugout has cooled of late and they now face a bit of an uphill battle to ensure they’re playing in Europe next term.
Spurs, meanwhile, have started to show signs of life under interim boss Ryan Mason and their chances of securing a 14th-successive season of continental football have been boosted, not least because the teams around them have surprisingly dropped points of late.
Here’s all you need to know ahead of their showdown this weekend.
Aston Villa vs Tottenham H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Not televised (studio updates on Sky Sports News, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website) |
|
United States |
Peacock |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada |
The only major injury headache for Emery to contend with regards Matty Cash, and even then the issue isn’t serious with the Poland international on the cusp of returning from a calf problem.
However, having lost their last two games, there could be some changes to the Aston Villa starting lineup.
Aston Villa predicted lineup (4-4-1-1): Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Ramsey; Buendia; Watkins
Current Premier League table, top scorers & upcoming fixtures
Spurs have been boosted by the returns of Emerson Royal and Yves Bissouma for the final stretch of the season.
However, they are expected to be without Ryan Sessegnon again, while Rodrigo Bentancur and Hugo Lloris are out for the season.
Clement Lenglet could also miss out after injuring his shoulder while cynically fouling Michael Olise late in last week’s 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace.
Tottenham predicted lineup (3-4-3): Forster; Emerson, Romero, Davies; Porro, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son
Having shown they’re not completely and utterly useless in recent weeks, Spurs may be peaking just in time to salvage something from a woeful season.
Mason’s men have recovered their spirit and against Palace displayed the gamesmanship and nous they ironically lacked under his serial-winner predecessors.
Aston Villa still have what it takes to fire their way into Europe and their destiny is in their own hands with games against Liverpool and Brighton to follow. They’ll probably fall short of taking all the points here, however.