Aston Villa and Tottenham have a date in the Premier League on match day 37 of the 2024-25 season at Villa Park.
As of the time of writing, Aston Villa are 7th on the log with 60 points from 35 games. Tottenham, who have been poor in the league all season, are 16th with 38 points on the log after the same number of matches played.
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who were busy during the transfer window, started the season well. In the Premier League, the Villans won three of their opening four games of the season, losing to only Arsenal during the run. It was their only defeat of the season until they lost to Liverpool and Tottenham in November.
They have blown hot and cold at times across all competitions. In the Premier League, Unai Emery’s men drew with Palace after losing to Liverpool before another defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They bounced back with back-to-back wins over Brentford and Southampton. Following that small good form, they then lost to Nottingham Forest before beating Manchester City at home, surprisingly.
Similarly, they also started well in Europe, and are one of the teams set for a place in the next round of the competition. The Birmingham club beat Young Boys and Bayern Munich in their first two games of the UCL before losing to Club Brugge and a goalless draw with Juventus. Their fantastic run in the Champions League ended at the quarterfinals stage, where they were knocked out by PSG. At the time of writing, Villa have won seven of their past 10 games in all competitions.
“We should be very demanding every day and in our focus with the game plan to be consistent, expecting them and playing, always being so, so demanding in our process in 90 minutes,” Villa manager Emery said after the recent narrow win over Fulham.
“We want to be consistent in the Premier League for 38 matches. But we have to be very consistent for 90 minutes each match. With the players in the starting XI, with the players in the bench – in the second half today, they helped us a lot, the sub players, how they impacted in 20, 30 minutes.
“It is necessary to have players very focused and with the game plan, demanding in their mind. When we lost some balls in the first half, in the dressing room I told them, ‘I can’t accept!’. I can’t accept sometimes how we were managing the match.”
On the other hand, Tottenham’s performance this season has been full of inconsistencies as they have failed to build on impressive performances. They started the season with a 1-1 draw at Leicester City before claiming their first victory of the season in a comfortable 4-0 win over Everton. Their first defeat of the season was a 2-1 loss at Newcastle United on Matchday three. They defeated Premier League champions Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad in what was a memorable win for them. As of the time of writing, they have lost 19 Premier League games from the 35 they have played.
In the UEFA Europa League, they put up a string of strong performances. The Whites started the season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Qarabag despite being reduced to ten men. They suffered their first European defeat of the season in a 3-2 loss at Galatasaray on Matchday 4. Having beaten AZ and Frankfurt in previous rounds, they are currently preparing to face Bodo Glimt in the second leg of their semifinal tie. It provides an opportunity for them to win some silverware, which Postecoglou bragged about some months ago.
The Australian told Sky Sports back in September 2024: “I’ll correct myself – I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing’s changed. I’ve said it now. I don’t say things unless I believe them.”
It is always fun to watch the two teams come up against each other. When you look at the past four PL meetings between them, they have two wins apiece. Meanwhile, none of their past 19 PL meetings have ended in a stalemate. Also, Spurs have won three times in their past four visits to Villa Park.
Match tickets
This epic Premier League match at Villa Park in Birmingham kicks off on Friday, 16th May 2025, at 19:30 UK time.
The magnificent 42,530-capacity stadium is the place to be for this important fixture.
Getting Aston Villa vs Tottenham tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Aston Villa’s only injury absentee is Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who missed last weekend’s Premier League win over Fulham with a hamstring injury and is set to miss the remainder of the season. Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres are set to compete for a place at centre-back alongside Ezri Konsa, while Ollie Watkins will lead the line in Rashford’s absence and will be looking to add to the 9 PL goals he has scored at Villa Park this season.
Aston Villa: Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Asensio, Rogers, Watkins.
James Maddison and Dominic Solanke both sustained issues in the second half of the Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt at the Tottenham Stadium. There are also reports that the former will miss the rest of the season; it remains to be seen whether Solanke will play. Meanwhile, Lucas Bergvall is also expected to spend some time on the sidelines.
Captain Son Heung-min (foot) also remains in the infirmary alongside ACL victim Radu Dragusin. With Tottenham’s PL season over long before now, manager Postecoglou could make mammoth changes again.
Tottenham possible XI: Vicario (C), Archie Gray, Kevin Danso, Ben Davies, Djed Spence; Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski; Tel, Odobert, Richarlison.
Prediction
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are sometimes difficult to predict, and that might be the issue here. However, the Villans have won their past four games at home in all competitions. By the way, get your Aston Villa tickets on time for this game.
Villa, following an impressive run in the Champions League this season, are looking to make another appearance next season. So, this is an important match for Unai Emery’s side.
On the other hand, Spurs have dialled out of the Premier League a long time ago, as seen in their results and position on the log. They have done well in the Europa League, where they could be playing in the final if their first-leg semifinal win over Bodo is anything to go by.
Given the above, Villa, with all their firepower, should be able to nick a win here.
Aston Villa 3-1 Tottenham
Main photo credit: IMAGO / Visionhaus