Aston Villa face Tottenham on Sunday, and Unai Emery could have some important selection decisions to make for the encounter.
Three points in north London would move Villa above Spurs in the Premier League table and into the top four, as we sit just a point behind them currently, and just three points off league leaders Manchester City ahead of the weekend.
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Despite their injury and suspension issues, this will undoubtedly be a tough assignment for us as we look to maintain our positive start to the campaign, with Tottenham enjoying a promising start themselves under Ange Postecoglu having impressed many not only with their results, but also their style of play.
In turn, in order to have the best possible chance of getting a positive result, Emery would have been hoping for good news on the injury front this week, and that is seemingly the case for the most part as the Villa boss is hopeful a number of players will shake off knocks and be in contention to feature off the back of the international break.
Villa team news vs Tottenham
“John trained well today,” he said, as per VillaTV. “Yesterday he came back here with us and he rested. But today he was training and, at the end of training, I asked him and he told me he’s ready. Hopefully tomorrow it doesn’t change and I think he will be okay for Sunday.
“Some players are coming back after their international matches with a little bit of doubt for Sunday. Emi, Leon and Nicolò are hopefully well, but Bertrand Traoré is coming back injured.
“The recovery of Jacob Ramsey, Álex Moreno and Tim is really, really important for us.
“Leon and Nicolò worked alone this morning trying to test if they are going to be ready for Sunday, and more or less the tests were positive. Emi tested this morning as well because he has a small pain, but I think he’s going to be ready for Sunday.
“Bertrand is completely 100% injured and not available for Sunday.”
How Villa could line up vs Tottenham
Provided he’s able to recover from the ‘small pain’ that is bothering him, as per Emery, the expectation is that Emiliano Martinez will start between the posts and have a settled back-four in front of him.
Diego Carlos should be back in contention, as is Alex Moreno, but Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne are likely to be the trusted backline that will hopefully give us a solid foundation on which we can go out and win the game.
Similarly to Martinez, if fit, John McGinn will captain the side and start in midfield, perhaps on the right side, with Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz and Youri Tielemans completing the quartet.
Leon Bailey or Nicolo Zaniolo could come into contention here to replace Tielemans, but much will likely depend on their respective fitness levels given both seemingly are doubtful after the break. Further, the Belgian international impressed prior to the break and earned himself a start in our win over Fulham, and so it could be argued that he deserves to keep his spot.
There should be a huge boost in the form of Jacob Ramsey being back on our bench after his injury layoff to take his place alongside Moreno, but this game will most likely come too soon for the pair as they’ll both surely need to be gradually worked back into the XI given their lack of playing time in recent months.
In the final third, we can expect to see the usual partnership of Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins link up, and they’ll hopefully lead our charge and provide a real threat both on the counter attack and as we look to control possession, to ensure that it’s a difficult afternoon for the Spurs defence.
That settled, familiar Villa line-up will hopefully allow us to maintain our balance and impose our style in both phases as we’ve done this season so far, but we’ll undoubtedly have to be produce a top performance if we’re to return home with anything to show for our efforts.
Predicted Aston Villa XI vs Tottenham: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Tielemans; Diaby, Watkins.
Agree with this XI? Diego Carlos, Bailey or others to come into contention?
nice to se Tielemans finally getting his act together. no more moping – just play as he can. great to see. he can be a difference for the Villa.