Tottenham Aston Villa
Tottenham play host to Aston Villa in the first of two Premier League games on Sunday
12:45PM
12:42PM
Saturday:
Nottingham Forest 0 Chelsea 3
Brighton 2 Newcastle 1
Burnley 2 Leeds 0
Crystal Palace 3 Bournemouth 3
Manchester City 2 Everton 0
Sunderland 2 Wolves 0
Fulham 0 Arsenal 1
Sunday:
Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Liverpool vs Manchester United
Monday:
West Ham vs Brentford
12:38PM
The Premier League weekend continues in north London as Tottenham host Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tottenham won 2-1 away at Leeds before the international break and today’s game marks the start of seven games for Thomas Frank’s men in the next 22 days. Frank has spoken of his excitement ahead of this run of matches.
“We love to play games. Every footballer loves to play a game instead of training. Coaches, we like to train a little bit more sometimes, but in general, we love to play the games. We have a fantastic run of games ahead of us, starting with Aston Villa on Sunday; a top team, top manager, Unai [Emery], I respect him a lot. I think what he has done in his career is amazing. What he created at Villa is fantastic in so many areas. I think they did well in the Champions League last season and almost qualified for the Champions League again, which is very impressive and I think they have a very strong team.”
Randal Kolo Muani is set to return for the hosts having missed the last five games. Dominic Solanke is closing in on a return from an ankle injury but Yves Bissouma is out with an ankle injury picked up on international duty with Mali.
Aston Villa are 13th after seven games but they do go into this match off the back of four straight wins in all competitions before the international break. Speaking ahead of the game, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is anticipating a “huge challenge”.
“(It is the) Premier League. Every match we are facing is very difficult. Tottenham is one of the contender teams to be in the top seven. Last year, they did not achieve it, but this year they are very fantastic, getting good results. They are now near the top, with 14 points, and playing at home, they are feeling strong. For us, it is a huge challenge how we can face them, showing our capacity, how we are, playing against them as a team and how we are responding. This is my challenge. Our challenge is how we can face them showing our capacity and testing as well.”
Despite missing England’s second game during the international break, striker Ollie Watkins is expected to feature. Tyrone Mings could also feature whilst both Emi Buendia and Jadon Sancho will be available.
In this fixture last season, Tottenham ran out comfortable 4-1 winners but Aston Villa did get their revenge later in the season, winning both in the league and the FA Cup at home. None of the last 20 Premier League meetings between the sides have ended in a draw. Team news to follow shortly.