Tottenham-Aston Villa is a match for the 18th day of the Premier League and is played on Sunday at 15:00: predictions
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham took a big risk in their away match against hostile Brentford in their first official game after the World Cup break. The surprising Bees basically dominated – especially in terms of intensity – the first half, taking a two-goal lead at the start of the second half. Ivan Toney’s double goal could have bent Spurs’ legs, but their reaction was almost immediate.
First Harry Kane and then Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the space of a few minutes brought the score back to even (2-2) with the Salento coach’s side even coming close to completing the comeback before the final whistle. A point that in any case has a not inconsiderable weight for Tottenham, for whom things had not gone well at all at the Community Stadium, a stadium in which many are struggling. In the standings, Spurs have meanwhile lost ground to the three teams ahead of them (Newcastle, Manchester City and Arsenal) and behind them, Manchester United and Liverpool, who both won on Boxing Day – the Red Devils also have a match to spare – and are now respectively -1 and -2 from the Londoners. It is crucial at this point not to make a mistake in the home match with Aston Villa.
After debuting with two victories in a row, Unai Emery ran into his first defeat since he was at the helm of the Villans. The Spanish coach, however, played his game with an open mind against a Liverpool side on the rise, and managed to create a number of goal chances, something that hardly happened under Gerrard’s management. The 1-3 final perhaps doesn’t do justice to the performance of Aston Villa, who are desperate to improve a league table that can’t be satisfactory – the Birmingham club are only five points off third-last place – after the investments made in the summer.
Watkins
The Prediction
Tottenham are the team that after Arsenal and City have scored the most goals in front of their home crowd. We are therefore expecting a lively match, with at least three goals in total, considering Aston Villa’s noticeable progress in ball possession. Spurs are slight favourites in a match in which they should both score.
The Tottenham v Aston Villa matchday squad
- TOTTENHAM (3-4-3): Lloris; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Bissouma, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
- ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz; Buendia, Watkins, Bailey.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
