Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

An all-Premier League tie in the third round of the FA Cup takes centre stage in North London on Saturday evening, as Tottenham Hotspur play host to Aston Villa.

Unai Emery’s men make the trip to Spurs just under three months after they claimed a 2-1 away victory over Thomas Frank’s side in the Premier League.

Match preview

After finishing down in 17th place in the Premier League last season under Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham have shown little signs of improvement this term under new boss Thomas Frank, who oversaw his eighth top-flight defeat of the season away against Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

Antoine Semenyo’s dramatic 95th-minute winner condemned Spurs to a 3-2 loss which leaves the languishing 14th in the table with just 27 points from 21 matches, 13 clear of the relegation zone but a whopping 21 worse off than leaders and bitter rivals Arsenal.

The post-match scenes were ugly from a Spurs perspective as supporters vented their frustration at the players, with many having now turned on under-fire Frank, who infuriated disgruntled away fans further when he was pictured drinking from a coffee cup with an Arsenal logo at the Vitality Stadium.

Securing a much-needed first win of 2026 this weekend would calm the storm at Spurs, though success against Villa is certainly not a given, as they have lost two of their last three FA Cup ties against the Birmingham-based outfit, losing 2-1 at Villa Park in the fourth round last season.

Nevertheless, eight-time winners Tottenham can at least take some comfort from the fact that they have advanced from 18 of their last 19 FA Cup third-round ties, doing so in each of the last 11 campaigns since a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in 2013-14.

Aston Villa missed the opportunity to close the gap to title rivals Arsenal at the Premier League summit, as they were held to a goalless stalemate by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday - their first draw in any competition since the end of September.

Emery’s side were seeking to claim their 10th victory in 11 top-flight matches , but they were unable to break down Palace’s backline and failed in their attempt to reach the 45-point mark after 21 games for the first time in their history.

Although Emery was satisfied with his team’s performance after getting a "fantastic" point against the Eagles, Villa in third and Man City in second - both level on points - could find themselves sitting eight points behind leaders Arenal if they beat Liverpool on Thursday night.

PL encounters with Everton, Newcastle and Brentford are on the horizon for Villa, as well as Europa League games against Fenerbahce and Red Bull Salzburg, but they must first turn their attention to the FA Cup, a competition they have won seven times and last lifted the prestigious trophy back in 1957.

Villa have won their last two FA Cup third-round ties, having been knocked out at this stage in each of the seven campaigns prior to this, while they have won each of their last three meetings with Spurs in all competitions, including the aforementioned 2-1 top-flight away win in October - the last team they beat twice on the road in a single campaign was Norwich City in 2012-13.

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Team News

Tottenham midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur were both forced off in the midweek loss to Bournemouth. While the former is a doubt with a muscle problem, the latter is expected to miss out with a hamstring issue.

Mohammed Kudus is ruled out until after March’s international break with a thigh injury and he is joined in the treatment room by Destiny Udogie (thigh), Dominic Solanke (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and James Maddison (ACL).

Backup goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky will be hoping to earn a rare start between the sticks at the expense of Guglielmo Vicario, while Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies, Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison will all be looking to force their way back into the first XI.

As for Aston Villa, Amadou Onana (thigh) and Ross Barkley (knee) both remain sidelined with injuries, while Evann Guessand is still away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast.

Pau Torres returned to the matchday squad in midweek after recovering from a calf injury and he could be in contention to feature from the start on Saturday. Fellow centre-back Tyrone Mings (thigh) will also be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Morgan Rogers has been involved in five goals in four appearances against Spurs across all competitions (three goals, two assists), scoring and assisting in Villa’s 2-1 FA Cup win against them last season, and he is likely to start in attack with either Ollie Watkins or Donyell Malen leading the line.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Kinsky; Spence, Danso, Van de Ven, Davies; Palhinha, Gray; Kolo Muani, Simons, Tel; Richarlison

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Bizot; Garcia, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bogarde, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Sancho; Malen

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Aston Villa

Expected changes made by both sides could make Saturday’s clash a more open contest in North London, with both Frank and Emery confident that the side they select will be capable of securing their spot in the fourth round.

Aston Villa will be regarded as slight favourites, though, considering their recent form and we are backing the visitors to take advantage of a leaky Spurs backline once again.