Aston Villa will be hoping to steer clear of the relegation zone with a positive result against Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park on Sunday.
Dean Smith’s side sit just outside the bottom three – one point ahead of eighteenth-place West Ham United – and defeat to Spurs could see Villa drop back into the relegation zone if results elsewhere go against them.
Aston Villa come into this game on the back of a disappointing loss to relegation rivals Bournemouth. A draw with Brighton and a win over Watford at the end of January had put Villa in a strong position.
Work. 👊#AVFC pic.twitter.com/zleYhX5JAo— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 14, 2020
Work. 👊#AVFC pic.twitter.com/zleYhX5JAo
Smith’s men then booked their place in the EFL Cup final with an outstanding semi-final win against Leicester, but the defeat to Bournemouth quickly brought Villa back down to earth.
At the other end of the table, Tottenham are looking to boost their hopes of a top-four finish by claiming a third consecutive Premier League victory.
Spurs drew with Watford last month before bouncing back with a 2-1 win over Norwich. In their previous league outing, Tottenham beat Manchester City with an excellent performance.
New signing Steven Berwijn scored a stunning debut volley to open to scoring against Man City, while Son Heung-min added a second to seal the victory.
Tottenham also showed great character in their previous game, coming from behind to beat Southampton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Jose Mourinho’s side are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions, but they have only managed to win four of their previous 24 away games.
On the opening day of the 2019/20 campaign, Spurs beat Villa 3-1. In fact, Villa haven’t beaten Tottenham since 2015, with Spurs winning ten of the last 11 meetings between the two teams in all competitions.
Harry Kane scored a brace for Spurs on the opening day, but Tottenham will be without their star striker this time around as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
Moussa Sissoko and Ben Davies are also carrying long-term injuries, while the fitness of Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela will be assessed before the weekend.
Aston Villa have plenty of injury problems of their own. Wesley and Tom Heaton are likely to miss the remainder of the campaign, but John McGinn is close to making a comeback.
Tottenham’s recent head-to-head record in this fixture is excellent, and Villa are going to struggle to stop Spurs making it even better on Sunday.
Forebet predicts that Tottenham will sneak a narrow victory, with both teams likely to get on the scoresheet.