Tottenham Hotspur remain in the bottom three of the Premier League and are still two points from safety.
After a difficult period stretching back to December without a win, Spurs secured their first win of 2026 at Molineux last weekend, against the league's bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
They again make the trip to the West Midlands this weekend to face Unai Emery's Aston Villa on Sunday, May 3.
It will be the third time that the sides have met this season, with the previous two meetings taking place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both in the league and the FA Cup, the matches ended 2-1 to Villa.
Villa have also won the last two meetings at Villa Park, with one of those also coming in the FA Cup.
The last time that Spurs tasted victory in this fixture was a 4-1 win in November 2024.
Spurs are fighting to stay in the league. Whereas Villa are looking to secure qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League.
They are also competing in the UEFA Europa League, with this game sandwiched between their semi-final ties with Nottingham Forest.
Start of something special?
There will be a hope that last week's victory can provide the required boost to their season.
There are just four games remaining so time is tight. However, sometimes it can only take one result to turn a corner.
There will be a hope that the win is enough to kick Spurs into action.
It was not necessarily an outstanding performance but their job was to leave Molineux with the three points and that is what they did.
They should take confidence from that and it breaks the long run without a win.
If Spurs can take the positives from the win then they may be in a position to put a run together.
It does not need to be pretty, they just need to find ways to get points.
For many weeks, it has been said that it was likely a case of 'now or never' for Spurs. The win last week does not change that but they have made the start and got the first of however many wins they will need to give them a chance of avoiding the drop.
All is still not well
Critics will say that Spurs made hard work of getting the three points.
On paper, Wolves are the easiest game that teams can have in this season's Premier League and Spurs did not win easily.
They needed Antonin Kinsky to make several big saves in goal, notably denying Adam Armstrong when he was in one-on-one and saving a free-kick from Joao Gomes in the final moments of the match.
Therefore, other teams in the league may not be sitting up and taking notice of Spurs just yet.
If they can back it up with a win in Birmingham then it would likely be a different story.
However, that is the challenge in front of them.
Not a lot changed
The other concern for Spurs may be that they won their game but with West Ham and Nottingham Forest winning last weekend the table remains the same.
It is arguably worse for Spurs as another gameweek has passed by and they remain in the bottom three.
They remain two points behind the Hammers and five points behind Forest.
Roberto De Zerbi will point out that his side cannot worry about other results and that they can only focus on winning their own games.
However, they may be internally frustrated that results did not go their way as at one point when West Ham were drawing, Spurs were moving out of the drop zone on goal difference.
Fresh injury setbacks
In the game against Brighton, where he scored the goal to put Spurs ahead, and against Wolves Xavi Simons was one of Spurs' best players.
He left the pitch on a stretcher at Molineux and has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the summer's World Cup.
It will come as a blow for De Zerbi to lose such a key attacking threat.
They are also waiting on the fitness of striker Dominic Solanke who limped off in the first half last week.
Spurs have a lengthy injury list and it is still growing.
This will not help their cause.
Villa may not be in the strongest form, losing last week at Fulham and that was their second defeat in their last five Premier League games. However, Spurs will need to be at their best to get a result.
A win and a draw in their last two games suggests an upturn in form.
They very much remain in the battle for survival and, despite their struggles, are far from down yet.
They will be arriving in Birmingham bruised with another injury but hopeful that they can back up the victory from last week.