Aston Villa vs Tottenham Premier League preview

Aston Villa host Tottenham at Villa Park on Sunday evening in a Premier League clash that could not carry higher stakes for both clubs, with Villa pushing for Champions League qualification and Tottenham two points from safety with four games to play.

Villa have picked up just two wins from their last six league games and need a reaction after consecutive 1-0 defeats to Fulham and Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final first leg. Tottenham, meanwhile, have managed only one win from their last six Premier League matches and arrive having lost Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke to injury during last weekend’s victory at Wolves.

Twenty goals have been scored across the last six meetings between these two sides, and Villa have won four of them on the bounce. The head-to-head record and the injury list both point in the same direction.

Aston Villa team news vs Tottenham

Boubacar Kamara remains sidelined and Amadou Onana is also out after picking up a knock against Nottingham Forest. Beyond those two confirmed absences, Emery has a relatively clean bill of health.

Morgan Rogers is the player to watch. He has World Cup selection on his mind and will be highly motivated to perform on a big stage with England’s squad announcement approaching.

Aston Villa predicted XI vs Tottenham: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Luiz; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins.

Tottenham team news vs Aston Villa

The injury list at Hotspur Way is now extensive. Xavi Simons, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Ben Davies, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, Pape Matar Sarr, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke are all unavailable.

Antonin Kinsky starts in goal. Kevin Danso and Micky van de Ven partner at centre-back with Djed Spence at left-back. Joao Palhinha and Conor Gallagher provide defensive cover in midfield, with Archie Gray alongside them. Randal Kolo Muani leads the line with Richarlison and Lucas Bergvall in wide roles.

Tottenham predicted XI vs Aston Villa: Kinsky; Porro, Danso, van de Ven, Spence; Gallagher, Palhinha, Gray; Bergvall, Kolo Muani, Richarlison.

What to expect and our Aston Villa vs Tottenham prediction

Villa are the better side and carry the home advantage, but their recent form is unconvincing and they cannot afford another flat performance in front of their own fans. For Tottenham, the sheer volume of absentees makes it very difficult to see where the goal threat comes from against a physically imposing Villa backline.

Kolo Muani and Richarlison will need their best game of the season combined. Rogers and Watkins, given even moderate service, should have too much quality for a depleted Spurs defence to handle consistently over 90 minutes.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham.