At A Glance
Aston Villa head to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on New Year’s Day as they kick off 2023 in north London.
The Villans will be looking to bounce back after resuming their Premier League campaign with a 3-1 loss against Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Victory against Brighton in their last away outing back in November offered encouragement that Villa’s form on their travels will improve under head coach Unai Emery.
Opponents Tottenham Hotspur returned to action against Brentford on Boxing Day, fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw.
Top scorer Harry Kane was on target versus the Bees, taking his tally to 14 for the season.
Antonio Conte’s team have picked up 18 of their 30 points on home turf this term, winning six and losing twice.
Standout Stats
Villa's last two victories against Spurs have come away from home, most recently in May 2021.
The last time the two sides faced each other on New Year's Day was in 2008 at Villa Park, in a game won 2-1 by the Villans.
Tottenham have won only two of their last six league games (D1, L3).
Spurs have won 14 points from losing positions this season, the most in the Premier League.
Antonio Conte's side could set an unwanted club record of conceding two or more goals in seven successive Premier League fixtures.
The North Londoners have won seven of their last eight games played on New Year's Day, and are level with Arsenal on ten as the team to record the most Premier League victories on the day.
Harry Kane has scored five Premier League goals on 1 January and needs one more to overtake Andrew Cole and Steven Gerard to become the outright top scorer on New Year's Day in the competition.
Kane's six headed goals this season is the most of any player in the top flight.
Aston Villa's victory over Brighton in their last away game was their first in the Premier League this season (D2, L5).
Unai Emery is looking to become the first Villa manager since John Gregory in 1998 to win his first two Premier League away matches.
Emery is unbeaten in three previous league meetings with Tottenham while Arsenal manager.
The Spaniard could set a record of 55 Premier League games managed without being involved in a goalless draw. He's currently level with former Spurs boss Ossie Ardiles.
Ollie Watkins is looking to become the first Englishman since Daniel Sturridge in 2012 to score in three successive Premier League visits to Spurs.
The Last Meeting
Tottenham left Villa Park with a resounding 4-0 win back in April.
Heung-Min Son started and finished the scoring, bagging a hat-trick, while Dejan Kulusevski also got in on the act.
The scoreline was harsh on the hosts after they called Hugo Lloris into several fine saves in the first half.
Team News
World Cup winner Emiliano Martínez is available after returning to the club earlier in the week.
Hugo Lloris is likely to return to the starting XI after he was on the bench against Brentford, while Christian Romero and Ivan Perisic may return to the squad.
Richarlison is dealing with a hamstring injury but Rodrigo Bentancur is available to return after suspension.
The Boss
“We are going to prepare in the best way possible. We know it’s going to be a very tough match. We want to be one step ahead and to fight and compete. Tottenham is the next challenge, a tough challenge. I will try to help my players to be capable of winning against them.”
Unai Emery
