Tottenham Hotspur will clash against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon in what could prove to be a season-defining fixture for Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Presently, Spurs are fifth in the standings and trail the fourth-placed Villans by five points, albeit with a game in hand, and victory in the Midlands would potentially reshape the table in the coming weeks.
Defeat, conversely, would provide Unai Emery’s high-flying outfit with a major advantage heading into the business end, and Tottenham must ensure that they leave Villa Park with something to keep on their opponents’ heels.
Especially so with teams such as Manchester United trailing further behind but sure to leap at any opening that arises from Tottenham’s defeat.
Postecoglou will be committed to preventing that from happening, and while he has most of his players available, there are one or two who are marooned in the medical room.
Spurs team news vs Aston Villa
Premier League 23/24: Top Tackling Defenders
#
Player
Team
Stat
1.
Emerson Palmieri
West Ham United
78
2.
Tyrick Mitchell
Crystal Palace
72
3.
Antonee Robinson
Fulham
69
4.
Pedro Porro
Tottenham Hotspur
67
5.
Destiny Udogie
Tottenham Hotspur
61
Sourced via Premier League
Pedro Porro could help silence Ollie Watkins
His all-encompassing approach will be crucial, also with a certain ubiquity in his play, energetic, tenacious, and covering immense stretches of ground – quite simply, Porro is one of Tottenham’s best players, and he will be important in stifling the threat of Ollie Watkins.
Watkins has been Aston Villa’s indomitable spearhead this season, sensational in his attacking output and yielding a return of 21 goals and ten assists across all competitions this season.
To fully underscore this, the 28-year-old ranks among the top 14% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals scored and the top 5% for assists per 90, as per FBref, so he’s certainly in the elite bracket of forwards right now and has even been dubbed a “fascinating” player by The Times’ Henry Winter.
