Aston Villa face Tottenham in the FA Cup on Saturday evening, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
Villa make six changes to the side that drew with Crystal Palace in the Premier League in midweek, with Marco Bizot coming in to replace Emiliano Martinez, having been introduced at half-time at Selhurst Park after the Argentine shot-stopper picked up an injury issue.
Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Emiliano Buendia and Donyell Malen replace Victor Lindelof, Lucas Digne, Youri Tielemans, Jadon Sancho and Ollie Watkins respectively, and so it’s still a strong Villa starting line-up for the showdown with Spurs in north London.
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It’s a real boost to see Pau back in the Villa XI after his absence through injury, and it’s hoped that he can start to establish that all-important defensive partnership with Ezri Konsa again in the heart of our backline.
There’s more good news on the bench as Tyrone Mings returns to the matchday squad after his own injury layoff, while we do have key options available in reserve if needed to change the game if required.
However, there’s no place for January signing Alysson after Emery had hinted in his pre-match press conference that the Brazilian youngster could be included, and so we’ll have to wait for his debut as he continues to settle and adapt.
Although Villa are well placed in both the Premier League and Europa League, we’ll be eyeing another deep FA Cup run and to improve on last year’s effort, and hopefully we can advance past Tottenham to build some momentum in this competition again.
Today’s starting XI to face Spurs 🫡 pic.twitter.com/VxvvPGdKyB
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 10, 2026
