Spurs look decent from a results perspective but performances have been underwhelming, while Aston VIlla seem to have turned a corner. Who will prevail at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday?
By Ian King
Are Spurs flattering to deceive, and are Villa hitting their stride?
The biggest question facing Spurs as they return from the international break is whether they have been flattering to deceive or not. They’re unbeaten in all competitions since the 30th August, but performances haven’t been particularly inspiring since then. After Saturday’s results, they now sit fifth in the table.
One of the bigger mysteries of the first two months of this season in the Premier League was what had happened to Aston Villa. But just as the lengthy think-pieces started to appear explaining why this should be, they kicked into gear. They’re also unbeaten in all competitions since the end of August, and come into this fixture off the back of two straight League wins, against Fulham and Burnley.
Spurs won the corresponding fixture last season, but Villa have the better overall record
Spurs have scored four goals on each of the last three times that they’ve beaten Aston Villa, including a 4-1 win against them in the corresponding fixture between the two last season, but Villa beat them twice last season after this match, in both the Premier League and the FA Cup. Villa have won five of the last seven meetings between the two teams.
Kolo Muani and Rogers are players with a point to prove
There have already been rumours that Randal Kolo Muani could be on his way from Spurs in the January transfer window, even though injury has restricted him to just 13 minutes on the pitch for them so far. If fit and selected for this one, he should have a point to prove ahead of any January move.
Another player subject to transfer speculation is Villa’s Morgan Rogers, who’s attracting the interest of numerous clubs. Rogers scored his first goal of the season for England against Wales last week, and we can see the upswing in his performance from his player ratings. If he wants what would almost certainly be a very big money move indeed, he needs to start demonstrating that he’s worth that expenditure again on a week-in-week-out basis.
Bissouma and Watkins injuries cast doubt over their availability
The Spurs injury list remains very much as it has been, although talk of a return for Yves Bissouma has been stifled by being stretchered off just six minutes after coming on while playing for Mali against Madagascar during the international break. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Kota Takai and Radu Dragusin all remain injured, though there is a possibility that they will start to appear in the Spurs matchday squads from this weekend on.
Youri Tielemans will definitely be missing for Aston Villa, but any of Emi Buendia, Andres Garcia, Tyrone Mings and Jadon Sancho could return. Their big question mark hangs over Ollie Watkins, who got injured playing for England against Wales and faces a race against time to be fit for this match.
Spurs & Aston Villa are long overdue a draw
The big question ahead of this game is whether Spurs have been pulling out results that have belied their performances and whether Villa’s corner-turning exercise is now complete. If both the former and latter are true, then you’d fancy Villa to win this game. But Villa won’t have wanted the international break to have come when it did, while Spurs, who’ve had a packed schedule so far, may well have welcomed the pause.
It is certainly a curiosity of this fixture that these two teams haven’t drawn a match in 13 and half years, despite having met 23 times in all competitions since then. Yet on this occasion a draw does actually feel like the most likely outcome. I’ll say 1-1, and for the question marks hanging over both of these teams to remain unanswered, for now.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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