In the battle before the battle, it was Tottenham Hotspur who scored a decisive win over Aston Villa, successfully lobbying the Premier League to move this fixture to Friday, providing a little more gap before next Wednesday’s Europa League final. Villa objected, which was in their right, but felt a little childish and wholly unnecessary.
That is because this outcome is never in doubt. Spurs are 100 percent focused on Bilbao, with Friday’s fixture solely serving as a tune-up (and obligation). Meanwhile, Villa are in the thick of the top-five race, level on points with Chelsea heading into the final two matches. I think both groups of supporters would be happy for Villa to take all three points here.
Aston Villa (t-5th, 63pts) vs. Tottenham Hotspur (17th, 37pts)
Date: Friday, May 16
Time: 2:30 pm ET, 7:30 pm UK
Location: Villa Park, Birmingham
TV: USA Network (US), Sky Sports Premier League (UK)
Were Spurs still actually playing for something in the league, this might oddly be seen as a favorable fixture despite the opposition’s quality. Tottenham had the famous 4-0 win last season at Villa Park and won the reverse fixture this year 4-1 behind goals from Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke (x2), and James Maddison. Villa did win in the FA Cup this February, though.
As mentioned, Villa is level on points with Chelsea for seemingly the final Champions League place. With matches against both Europa League finalists, the chance of all six points is pretty high, but goal difference means Chelsea will probably need to stumble. That will not happen against United on Friday, but the final day at Forest (who also is in contention) should be massive.
Weekly spotlight: Mate...
Look, I know the first-choice players were not going to sit against both Palace and Villa, and I even used this space last week to talk through the options, but it was extremely frustrating to see Dejan Kulusevski pick up a knock and leave him out for Spurs’ most important match in years. With no James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall already, the dynamic attacker’s absence is even more painful.
That means Ange Postecoglou has zero margin for error health-wise on Friday. I know that some of the preferred XI is going to see the pitch, but their leashes have to be astronomically short. It is also the manager’s job to instruct and advise them to take as much caution as possible; for all intents and purposes, this match is no more meaningful than a friendly. Tone it down.