At A Glance
Aston Villa are looking to return to form when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Villa Park on Saturday.
The Villans have suffered three defeats on the spin – all by a one-goal margin – following last weekend’s 2-1 loss at the hands of Wolves.
That run of results has left Steven Gerrard’s team sitting 11th in the Premier League heading into this weekend’s clash against Champions League-chasing Spurs.
Antonio Conte has led his team to five wins in their last six top flight fixtures, scoring 21 times in the process.
Their attacking prowess was on show as they came from behind to beat Newcastle United 5-1 last time out.
However, Spurs’ away form has been hit and miss this term and they have a record of seven wins, two draws and six defeats from 15 games.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have won just two of their last 20 Premier League games against Spurs (D3 L15), both away from home in April 2015 and May 2021. Their last victory against them at Villa Park was in January 2008.
Tottenham have won their last six Premier League away games against Aston Villa. Only against the Villans themselves have they had a longer winning away run in their league history (7 between 1950 and 1956).
Aston Villa have lost their last three Premier League matches, losing each game by a one-goal margin. Indeed, the Villans have lost 12 matches by one goal this season, more than any other side.
Tottenham Hotspur have scored 21 goals in their last six Premier League matches (W5 L1), scoring four or more goals in three of those games (4-0 vs Leeds, 5-0 vs Everton, 5-1 vs Newcastle). It’s the first time Spurs have scored 21 times in the space of six top-flight games since a run between April and September 1965.
Aston Villa have won just four of their last 30 Premier League matches in April (D9 L17) and have lost nine of their last 11 games in the month (W1 D1) – their one win was a 3-1 home victory over Fulham last year.
Spurs have scored 43 goals in their 20 Premier League matches under Antonio Conte (W12 D3 L5); in Premier League history, the only managers to see their teams score more goals in their first 20 games in charge at a club are Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea in 2009 (45 goals) and Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City in 2013-14 (57 goals).
Steven Gerrard has lost nine of his 19 Premier League matches as Aston Villa manager (W7 D2), after only losing 11 of his 118 league matches as Rangers manager between 2018 and 2021. He has lost his last three Premier League games with Villa, only ending on the losing side in four in a row as a player once - a run of five in November and December 2002 at Liverpool.
Harry Kane has scored in all three of his away Premier League appearances against Aston Villa for Spurs, scoring in 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2020-21. The only player to score in four consecutive away Premier League appearances against Villa is Romelu Lukaku (2013-2021).
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has scored in and lost eight Premier League matches since the start of last season, the most of any player. In Premier League history, only Gareth Barry (12) and Christian Benteke (9) have scored in and lost more Villa matches.
The Last Meeting
When Aston Villa visited north London for the reverse fixture in October they went down to a hard-fought 2-1 loss.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg opened the scoring as Spurs took a 1-0 lead into half-time.
Ollie Watkins converted Matt Targett’s cross to equalise after 67 minutes, but the away side were level for a matter of minutes before Targett netted an own goal.
Team News
Steven Gerrard will welcome Marvelous Nakamba back into the squad for the first time since December after his return from a knee injury.
Emiliano Buendia picked up a knock against Wolves but, barring any setback, should be fit to face Tottenham.
For Spurs, Sergio Reguilon and Ryan Sessegnon have returned to training ahead of the game.
Oliver Skipp is out with a groin issue while Japhet Tanganga is out for the season with a knee injury.
The Boss
“We show clips, we show footage, we show their strengths, we show their patterns and make sure we’re really diligent in giving the players the information they need. At the same time, we do the exact same in where we believe we can hurt Spurs. Spurs are in great form and they’ve got a top-class manager. You have to remember that over the course of the season, Spurs aren’t unbeatable. It wasn’t so long ago that the manager was extremely frustrated because they had inconsistencies. Good team, good form, good players but not unbeatable.”
Steven Gerrard
