![Tottenham midfielder James Maddison [Credit: Imago]](http://media.assettype.com/tottenhamhotspurnews%2Fimport%2Fstatic%2Fuploads%2F11%2F2024%2F09%2FTottenham-James-Maddison-2.png?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
James Maddison nowhere to be seen in Tottenham XI v Aston Villa
Ange Postecoglou has left James Maddison out of his Tottenham team to take on Aston Villa.
Spurs will clash with Unai Emery's side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (3 November).
After their disappointing 1-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (27 October), the North London side responded perfectly in midweek by beating Manchester City 1-0 in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (30 October).
Therefore, the mood among the Spurs players should be high heading into their crunch clash with Villa. They do have some injury issues to contend with, with Micky van de Ven unavailable for the hosts after another "frustrating" setback.
However, they have also been handed a big boost, with Son returning to the starting lineup as confirmed via the club's official X account (3 November).
James Maddison misses out for Tottenham v Aston Villa
As predicted by John Wenham in an exclusive conversation with Tottenham News, Son starts against Villa. Therefore, Spurs supporters will no doubt be over the moon.
However, Postecoglou has once again decided to leave out Maddison, which might surprise a few.
The midfielder didn't play any minutes against City. As a result, many might have perhaps felt that he would be fit and ready to go against Villa.
However, he has been left on the bench, which will only further fuel speculation that the midfielder is unhappy in North London.
Maddison was hooked at around the hour mark against Palace on his most recent Spurs appearance.
As per Sofascore, that afternoon the 27-year-old completed 78 per cent of his passes, with one of those key, while 100 per cent of his crosses into the box were accurate.
He also had two shots on target, registered one successful dribble from two attempts and missed one big chance. Defensively, he won five of his nine ground duels and made two tackles, while being dribbled past once.
Clearly, Postecoglou wasn't happy with that display so he has decided to leave him out against Villa, a decision which the Australian will hope doesn't come back to bite him.
In other Tottenham news, Manchester City are "optimistic" about signing one player from the club.
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