Aston Villa v Tottenham preview: Team news, betting odds, lineups, where to watch
Ange Postecoglou has an opportunity to bounce back quickly with a trip to face Aston Villa after Tottenham fell to defeat against Liverpool.
The Lilywhites travelled to Anfield on Thursday (6 February) in the League Cup semi-final second leg but couldn’t secure a place in the final at Wembley.
The Reds netted four without reply to secure a 4-1 aggregate win which has seen plenty of star players come under scrutiny with Troy Deeney suggesting they “gave up”.
Despite the low of this result, Spurs have a game just four days later as they prepare to travel to Villa Park.
Preview
After being dumped out of the League Cup, the FA Cup poses the next best opportunity for silverware in North London.
Postecoglou has come under immense sack pressure and this will only get worse if his side fails to progress in both domestic cups within the space of a week.
Securing a win in the West Midlands won’t be an easy task despite Unai Emery’s side losing 2-0 against Wolves in their last game.
The Villans will also be keen to bounce back with a win with their supporters also having their hearts set on a positive campaign in a domestic cup.
Form Guide [all competitions]
Aston Villa: LWDLD
Tottenham: LWWLW
Team News
As has been the case for pretty much the whole season, Spurs are set to be without a whole host of key players for the trip up North.
Richarlison went off against Liverpool and looks set to be out once again, joining Radu Dragusin on the treatment table who also suffered an injury in the past week.
This duo are the latest absentees with Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero all also set to miss out at Villa Park.
The home side aren’t without their own problems after going without Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash, Pau Torres and Ross Barkley for their defeat against Wolves.
After going off at Molineux, Ollie Watkins may also be unavailable leaving Emery with a tough situation up front after selling Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr.
This could mean that Marcus Rashford comes in for his Villa debut after joining on loan late in the window, despite being linked with a move to North London.
Predicted lineups
Aston Villa: Martinez, Garcia, Konsa, Kamara, Maatsen, Onana, Tielemans, Rogers, Ramsey, Malen, Rashford
Tottenham: Kinsky, Porro, Danso, Davies, Spence, Gray, Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Son, Tel
Betting Odds
Aston Villa: 7/10
Draw: 31/10
Tottenham: 10/3
(All odds according to bet365, 7 February)
Where to watch?
The match at Villa Park will kick off 5:35pm GMT on Sunday (9 February) and will be available live on BBC One and will be available for streaming on the BBCiPlayer app.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham
Postecoglou needs a positive result. His future in N17 could rely on it.
The Lilywhites have a great record when travelling to the West Midlands, winning at Villa Park 4-0 towards the end of last campaign.
The Villans are light in the centre-back role and are to be without Axel Disasi who is cup-tied, who joined on loan after rejecting approaches from Spurs.
As a result, the away side needs to start quickly, put Villa under pressure from minute one and take their chances when they come.
It is the perfect opportunity for Tel to impress from the start with the backing of the likes of Kulusevski and Son who will be keen to show their best after a frustrating night at Anfield.