Aston Villa face Tottenham in a Premier League showdown on Sunday, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks for the clash.
After a disappointing exit from the Carabao Cup in midweek, which followed a frustrating draw with Bournemouth in the league last weekend after we conceded a last-gasp equaliser, Emery and the players will be eager to get back to winning ways in north London.
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It certainly won’t be an easy task given the quality of this Tottenham side and Ange Postecoglu’s influence on them, but given our positive recent record against them and the ability we have within our ranks, we go into every game now with belief and confidence of getting a positive result.
The expectation was that we’d see multiple changes from the side that started our defeat to Crystal Palace and a return to the side that faced Bournemouth, and as per the club’s post below, that proved to be the case in an important boost for Emery to give him consistency and familiarity in his line-up.
Emiliano Martinez returns after his rest in midweek, with Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne starting in his backline.
Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans are restored to the Villa XI in the midfield pivot, while John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey will provide support behind Ollie Watkins in the final third.
It’s a balanced Villa side full of experience and quality, and hopefully we’ll be able to execute our gameplan and secure three important points as we look to keep up the pace at the top of the Premier League table, and continue to maintain a gap between ourselves and the chasing pack in that battle for a top-four spot.
Aside from Ross Barkley who suffered an injury this week and will be sidelined until after the international break, Villa have a strong squad now which is reflected in our bench once again, and so Emery has options available to come on and change the game if required.
Our starting XI this afternoon 🫡 #TOTAVL pic.twitter.com/Pjimhetjw9
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 3, 2024
