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Spotlight on… Aston Villa

Fri 14 February 2020, 17:36|Tottenham Hotspur

Following the conclusion of the winter break, we resume our Premier League campaign with a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon (2pm kick-off).

We last faced the Birmingham-based outfit on the opening day of the season as we came from behind to win 3-1 in the late stages of the clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

John McGinn had given the visitors a ninth-minute lead but a stunning strike on his debut from Tanguy Ndombele got us level with 17 minutes to go before a Harry Kane brace sealed all three points for us.

Team news

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith will have Ezri Konsa at his disposal this Sunday after the defender recovered from a thigh injury picked up in his side’s defeat to Bournemouth last time out.

Forward Keinan Davis (hamstring), John McGinn (ankle), Jed Steer (calf), Wesley and Tom Heaton (both knee), however, all remain sidelined.

Villa’s form

It has been a relatively bright 2020 so far for Aston Villa. With five league games played to date, they have picked up seven points with two wins, two defeats and a draw. Those results have lifted them out of the drop zone, however, a 2-1 defeat in their last outing away to relegation rivals Bournemouth will have come as a significant blow to their survival hopes. Yet, the success of triumphing over Leicester City to reach the Carabao Cup Final should serve as a major morale boost in the coming months.

New faces

Villa welcomed four new arrivals in the January transfer window with goalkeeper Pepe Reina and midfielder Danny Drinkwater joining on loan from AC Milan and Chelsea respectively, while two forwards were brought in on a permanent basis in Mbwana Samatta from Genk and Borja Bastón from Swansea City.

One to watch

A shining light in an up and down season so far for Villa has been Jack Grealish. A graduate of their youth academy and now their captain, he has been leading by example on the pitch this campaign and is regularly at the heart of his side's creative output. Of Villa's 32 goals scored this season, Grealish has been involved in 16 of them – exactly 50 per cent. Since making his debut for his boyhood club in 2014, the midfielder has contributed towards 50 goals in total.

Last five meetings

10 August, 2019 – Spurs 3-1 Aston Villa – Premier League
8 January, 2017 – Spurs 2-0 Aston Villa – FA Cup
13 March, 2016 – Aston Villa 0-2 Spurs – Premier League
2 November, 2015 – Spurs 3-1 Aston Villa – Premier League
11 April, 2015 – Spurs 0-1 Aston Villa – Premier League

The numbers game

8 - Aston Villa are winless in their last eight Premier League home games against us (D2 L6), losing each of the last four in a row. They last beat us at Villa Park in January, 2008 (2-1).

10 - In all competitions, we have won 10 of our last 11 meetings with Aston Villa, losing the other 1-0 at White Hart Lane in April, 2015.

22 – We are unbeaten in our last 22 Premier League away games against promoted sides (W18 D4) since a 1-0 loss at QPR in April, 2012.

6 – Aston Villa’s seven Premier League victories this season have come on six different days of the week, with Sunday the only day they have yet to win on in 2019/20. The only other team to have won a league game on all seven days of the week within the same season was us in 1986/87.

3 - We are looking to secure three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since a run of four in January and February, 2019.

Quiz on Villa

Who scored on his Spurs debut against Aston Villa in our opening Premier League game of the season?

Tanguy Ndombele
Ryan Sessegnon
Giovani Lo Celso

We last visited Villa Park in March, 2016, taking all three points in a 2-0 win. Who scored both our goals that day?

Harry Kane
Erik Lamela
Dele Alli

While Alan Hutton joined Aston Villa on a permanent deal on deadline day in August, 2011, which other Spur joined Villa on the same day in a loan move?

Scott Parker
Jermaine Jenas
Jamie O’Hara

In the summer of 2011, which player departed Aston Villa before joining us on a free?

Louis Saha
Ryan Nelsen
Brad Friedel

Who scored the opener in our last game against Aston Villa at White Hart Lane – a 2-0 FA Cup third round triumph in January, 2017?

Toby Alderweireld
Jan Vertonghen
Ben Davies

(Answers at the bottom of the page.)

Played for both

Alan Hutton spent three years with us between 2008 and 2011 before leaving to join Aston Villa. Coming through the ranks as a youth player at Rangers, he learned his trade with the Glaswegian outfit prior to arriving at White Hart Lane.

Making his debut for us against Manchester United in February, 2008, Alan played in every game for us until the end of that season, including the whole 120 minutes as we lifted the League Cup after the final against Chelsea just 23 days after he had initially signed. It had been a bright start for the Scot but, unfortunately, he would miss the majority of the following season as he struggled with injuries.

To build up some minutes on the pitch, in 2009/10, the full-back headed to Sunderland on loan. A successful stint in the north-east saw him once again become a regular in our team on his return to north London, however, injuries once again disrupted his progress. In 2011, he departed for Villa Park on a permanent basis, where he spent the next eight years, with loan spells during that period with Nottingham Forest, Mallorca and Bolton. For Scotland, he picked up a half-century of caps.