We look ahead to Sunday’s Premier League game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with our Tottenham vs Aston Villa prediction and preview. Will Thomas Frank finally beat Unai Emery?
Tottenham vs Aston Villa: The Key Stats
This match is almost too close to call for the Opta supercomputer, but Tottenham are just given the edge, winning 38.4% of the pre-match simulations.
Thomas Frank has never beaten Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in five previous attempts (D2 L3).
Villa have won four of their last six Premier League games against Spurs (L2).
Thomas Frank has not enjoyed much success against Unai Emery in the past, but Tottenham’s clash against Aston Villa this weekend is an opportunity for him to change that.
Spurs are currently third in the Premier League table after seven games, but a win against Villa could see them go top if both Arsenal and Liverpool drop points against Fulham and Manchester United, respectively.
However, getting a win against Emery is far easier said than done for Frank, who is yet to taste victory against the Spaniard in the English top flight.
Frank has never beaten Emery’s Villa side in the Premier League in five attempts (D2 L3, all with Brentford). It’s the most times he’s faced an opposing manager in the competition without ever winning.
In addition to that, Frank has only won once in his previous eight league games against Villa, his joint-lowest win percentage against a side in the competition (12.5%).
Emery, on the other hand, has lost just two of his nine Premier League games against Spurs (W5 D2), only boasting more league wins for the Villans against Fulham (6) than Tottenham (4).
And to make things even harder for Frank, Villa have rediscovered their winning form ahead of their trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Villans won four consecutive games heading into the international break, beating Burnley and Fulham in the league while also defeating Feyenoord and Bologna to start their Europa League campaign.
After failing to win any of their opening five league games this season (D3 L2), Villa have won their last two. Since the beginning of March, only Manchester City have enjoyed more Premier League wins (11) than Emery’s team (10).
But Frank and Spurs should not be overly concerned about the challenge ahead, especially with the clinical nature of his attack.
Tottenham have scored 13 goals (including one own goal) from an expected goals (xG) tally of 7.5 in the Premier League this season, the biggest overperformance of any side (+5.5). Indeed, their shot conversion rate of 16.9% is second only to Man City (17.4%).
Their 13 goals have come from eight different scorers, a tally only bettered by Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion (9) after seven games.
Mohammed Kudus, their most recent goalscorer, has impressed for Spurs this season following his move from rivals West Ham. The Ghana international has completed 30 dribbles in the Premier League this season, with no other player completing 20 or more.
Kudus has completed 246 dribbles in his 72 Premier League appearances overall. The only player to record 250+ successful dribbles within his first 73 games on Opta’s records in the competition (from 2006-07) is Allan Saint-Maximin (250 in first 58).
Spurs have also strengthened in the set-piece department under Frank, something that could prove to be vital against their next opponents.
A quarter (25%) of Villa’s shots in the Premier League this season have been from corner situations (19/76); only West Ham (26%) have a higher ratio.
Indeed, only Arsenal (26) and Chelsea (22) have registered more efforts from corners overall than Emery’s side (19).
However, Villa’s recent upturn in results has coincided with Morgan Rogers’ positive form, a player Spurs will need to keep an eye on.
Rogers provided assists in their wins against Fulham and Burnley, while he also found the net in England’s 3-0 win against Wales during the international break.
Rogers has assisted more goals in the Premier League in 2025 (nine) than any other player, but he has never recorded one in three successive Premier League appearances before.
The 23-year-old also directly contributed to two of Villa’s three goals against Spurs in the league last season (one goal, one assist).
Both sides also boast a strong record when playing after an international break.
Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Spurs have won six of their nine Premier League games immediately following the international break (L3), including a 3-0 win against West Ham earlier this season.
Villa, meanwhile, have won eight of their last 10 league games that have come on the matchday after an international break (D2), including an away win against Spurs in November 2023.
The hosts are still without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies and Dominic Solanke, who are all injured. Randal Kolo Muani could be close to his Premier League debut, though, after playing 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week following a dead leg he suffered in the Champions League win over Villarreal.
Villa will be relieved that the leg injury sustained by Ollie Watkins in England’s friendly win over Wales doesn’t appear to be serious, with Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel suggesting he might be available for this one.
Tottenham vs Aston Villa Head-to-Head
None of the last 20 Premier League matches between Spurs and Villa have ended in a draw (14 Spurs wins, six Villa wins) since a 1-1 stalemate in May 2012.
Only two fixtures in the competition’s history have ever had more successive games without a draw: Newcastle vs Spurs (21 from Aug 1999 to Dec 2010) and Chelsea vs Crystal Palace (26 from Sep 1997 to Feb 2024).
Villa have won four of their last six Premier League games against Spurs (L2), as many as their previous 29 beforehand (D7 L18).
Tottenham vs Aston Villa Prediction
After running 10,000 simulations of this match, the Opta supercomputer expects a tight contest between the two at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs have been given a 38.4% chance of victory, while Villa have a 35.1% probability of extending their winning run in the league to three games.
A draw has been given a likelihood of 26.5%, and given Spurs’ recent home form, Villa will fancy their chances of leaving the capital with something.
Tottenham have won just three of their last 17 Premier League home games (D4 L10). Indeed, since the first game of this run (November 2024 vs Ipswich Town), no ever-present side has lost more home games (10) or picked up fewer home points (13) in the competition than Spurs.
Tottenham vs Aston Villa Predicted Lineups
Tottenham: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, João Palhinha, Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel.
Head coach: Thomas Frank
Aston Villa: Emiliano Martínez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Lamare Bogarde, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, Donyell Malen, Ollie Watkins.
Head coach: Unai Emery
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.