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Aston Villa will be looking for their fifth consecutive win when they face Tottenham on Sunday.

Villa secured a 2-1 win over Burnley in their last outing before the international break halted Premier League action, to make it four wins from their last four games.

Villa travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 19 October, for a tough contest, in which Unai Emery will hope his side can come out on top.

The B6 outfit could move up to seventh in the top-flight, depending on results elsewhere, if they can secure victory against Thomas Frank’s side.

Premier League form guide

Tottenham: WDDWLW

Aston Villa: WWDDLL

Team news

Ollie Watkins is a doubt for the Villans, after being subbed off in England’s win over Wales and missing the Latvia clash.

Emery is also expected to give an update on Tyrone Mings (ankle), Emi Buendia (concussion) and Jadon Sancho (illness) in his pre-match press conference.

However, Youri Tielemans is still out with a calf injury, and he is not expected to return for the clash with the North London side.

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Meanwhile, the hosts will be without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin, while Dominic Solanke, Randal Kolo Muani and Yves Bissouma are doubtful.

Predicted lineups

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha; Bergvall, Kudus, Simons; Richarlison

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Bogarde; Guessand, Rogers, McGinn; Malen

Score prediction: Tottenham 1-1 Aston Villa

Both sides enter the contest in form, and both have players who can make a difference on their day.

Expect the Villans to give it their all, but ultimately, a point feels like a solid result on the road against such a quality opponent.

Without Watkins leading the line and Tieleman’s presence in the middle, it feels like a tough ask for Emery’s side to come away with all three points.

If they do, it would be a huge result that could change the outcome of the campaign, given how Frank’s side have started the season.

Aston Villa are set to travel to Tottenham in a return to Premier League action on Sunday.

Tottenham are preparing to welcome Villa as both sides look to build on victories last time out in the Premier League.

Villa Park hosted a 2-1 Villa win over Burnley before the international break, with Donyell Malen’s brace making the difference for Unai Emery’s side.

A B6 trio were on show for England as Ezri Konsa caught the eye against Latvia, with several other stars making their presence felt for their nations.

Attention will now turn to a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium trip, with Ollie Watkins potentially set to be absent in North London.

Emi Martinez to start vs Tottenham after bizarre Argentina moment

Martinez was substituted for Argentina on 76 minutes as second-choice keeper Facundo Cambeses was brought on for his first-ever cap.

Many fans in the Midlands feared that this may have been due to injury, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

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The 33-year-old could return to action for Villa behind an unchanged back line in claret and blue in the hope of making more than his one save from the Burnley win.

Matty Cash and Lucas Digne could take up their spots in the full-back areas after both spent the international break with their respective nations.

A similar thing can be said of Konsa, who could be set to start again, with Pau Torres looking likely to start alongside the Englishman in North London.

Boubacar Kamara and Lamare Bogarde could also reprise their roles at the base of midfield after a largely excellent showing against Burnley last time out.

The consistency of this defensive setup could prove to be precisely what the Villans need to build on their run of four wins on the bounce.

Ollie Watkins could miss Tottenham vs Aston Villa through injury

Watkins was forced off for England against Wales after colliding with the post before being left in considerable pain.

The 29-year-old was forced off at Wembley after registering 86 per cent pass accuracy and three shots on goal before he was then sent home before England went on to beat Latvia on Tuesday.

Villa could be without the striker, but could call on four international stars to push them over the line against Thomas Frank’s side.

Morgan Rogers could start in the number 10 role and interchange with John McGinn as Evann Guessand could come in and replace Watkins in the starting 11.

This would leave Malen with the chance to lead the line in claret and blue for the trip to N17 after his brace and two created chances against Burnley.

The Dutchman will be relying on support from those around him, but there is no doubting the attacking strength in this potential Villa side.

Unai Emery will be raring to get back to action when Aston Villa take on Tottenham next weekend.

Villa are underdogs against Tottenham, with the home side currently third in the Premier League after enjoying a strong start to the season.

It was the opposite case for the Villans, who started the season in terrible fashion, but have recently made a recovery.

Villa beat Burnley 2-1 before the international break, to make it four consecutive wins across all competitions.

Amadou Onana featured for Belgium against Wales, with the midfielder finally looking to regain his fitness after an extended injury layoff.

Premier League reveal referee appointment for Tottenham vs Villa

Ezri Konsa was sent off against Newcastle United at the start of the season, in a decision that looked fairly open and shut, despite the defender’s complaints.

Luckily, the frustrating moment has been the extent of Villa‘s refereeing troubles so far this season, and Emery will hope that continues on Sunday.

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The Premier League have confirmed that Simon Hooper will oversee the Villans’ trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And Emery will be pleased to learn that Villa have a strong record under the referee.

Of the 19 occasions in which Hooper has overseen, Villa have lost just four times, and have won on 10 of them.

Additionally, the Villans have not lost since September 2023 when refereed by the Englishman, and have never received a red card.

Simon Hooper has already aided Villa this season

Everton fans were left furious with Hooper after Villa’s trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium earlier in the season.

The Toffees dominated much of the proceedings, but the game would ultimately finish scoreless.

Hooper was slammed for several controversial decisions over the course of the game, including one James Tarkowski challenge that drew the referee’s whistle, despite appearing to be clean.

One Everton fan described the performance as “one of the worst I’ve seen”, though it was without a game-deciding decision.

Villa will hope to win without the referee’s intervention on Sunday, but would surely not dispute some decisions in their favour.

Tottenham vs Aston Villa result predicted by supercomputer

Aston Villa will return to Premier League action when they take on Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

Unai Emery has likely spent much of the last week with his fingers crossed, as several Villa stars featured for their nations on international duty.

Ollie Watkins was injured after colliding with the post for England, but the striker is expected to recover in time for Sunday’s match.

And, fortunately, the forward appears to be the only Villan injured while on international duty, although there are games still to be played.

Donyell Malen scored for the Netherlands on Sunday, continuing the superb form that he showed at Villa Park against Burnley.

Aston Villa slight underdogs vs Tottenham

Villa beat Burnley 2-1 before the international break, extending their winning run to four consecutive games.

It has been an early-season resurgence for Emery’s side, after what was a shambolic opening six games.

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Premier League matches against Tottenham, Manchester City, and Liverpool will now bring a more difficult challenge, however, with the Spaniard hoping Sunday’s trip can set a positive tone.

Villa’s hosts have enjoyed a strong start to the season, and currently sit third in the league.

There are noticeable weaknesses to Thomas Frank’s side, though, who have struggled to create chances at times.

Tottenham lost 1-0 to Bournemouth at home, and were held to a 1-1 draw by the side at the bottom of the Premier League, Wolves, creating just 1.06 expected goals over both contests.

According to Opta‘s supercomputer, the home side hold a narrow 38.4% chance of winning Sunday’s match, while Villa have a 35.1% chance of causing an upset.

There is a 26.5% chance of the scores ending level, according to the supercomputer.

Villa will be in good spirits vs Tottenham

Emery’s side boast a strong recent record against Tottenham. Of the last seven matches between the sides, Villa have been the victors on five occasions.

The last meeting between the sides came in May, when Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara scored to give the Villans what was ultimately a routine victory at Villa Park.

Villa dominated in every metric on the day, enjoying 15 more shots than Ange Postecoglou’s side, and the lion’s share of possession.

But the sheer one-sidedness of the contest may have hurt Emery more at the end of the season, when Spurs ultimately made it into the Champions League over his side, after winning the Europa League.

In that respect, the roles may reverse this season – although Villa will hope to repeat their strong performance on Sunday.

Unai Emery and his Aston Villa side could be set to echo the work of Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.

There is no getting away from the fact that the Spaniard has been superb ever since coming in through the Villa Park doors.

Emery departed Villarreal for Aston Villa in 2022 and has carried the B6 club away from a relegation battle and into the Champions League.

Despite all this positivity, there have been frustrations surrounding the Villans after a lack of transfer activity to this point, with Evann Guessand being the only outfield addition.

That annoyance wasn’t helped as Villa scraped a point in a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on opening day, something which could result in Emery replicating former Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou in the coming months.

Emery could soon follow Postecoglou’s footsteps

As it stands, the former Celtic boss is without a job, having been sacked by Daniel Levy and replaced by Thomas Frank at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This came after a dreadful Premier League season, which saw Spurs fall to 17th in the table after losing 22 games throughout the year.

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This record was secured after losing to Brighton on the final day of the campaign, after Tottenham lost to Aston Villa in their last away game.

In between those two clashes, the Lilywhites lifted the Europa League after a 1-0 win in the final against Bilbao, something that wasn’t enough for Postecoglou to keep his job in North London.

It is the potential of also winning the European honour that has caught the eye at Villa Park, something which Emery is no stranger to doing.

With that in mind, former England goalkeeper coach Dave Watson has told the Football Fill-In (19 August) that he could see the Villans going all in on the Europa League, in a similar vein to Spurs.

He said: “I think he’s brought into the project and has found it really tough this summer in terms of where they’re at, but look, he’s a good coach and the team will be as good as he can make them.

“He may even do what Ange Postecoglou did last season, get to Christmas, see where they are in the league and go all in on the Europa League.”

Aston Villa won’t want to echo Tottenham’s failings

It is fair to say that everyone associated with the claret and blue outfit wants to win a trophy, but that can’t be at the expense of league form.

This comes as the financial disparity between Premier League positions will likely have too much of an impact on the Villans for years to come.

This has already been seen after the defeat to Manchester United on the last day of the season, something which has thrown the current summer window into disrepute.

As a result, putting all eggs into one basket for the rest of the year could prove to be a recipe for disaster, not only for Emery but for Nassef Sawiris after his constant financial complaints about Villa.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the B6 club can balance domestic and European competition, but their manager has more than his fair share of experience, having already won the Europa League on four times.

Who has won the most Europa League titles?

As the current campaign moves deeper, there is no doubt that Emery will want to make that five before the end of the season.