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Tottenham full-back Destiny Udogie spoke to Sky: “When you get a win it always changes the mood in the dressing room and adds confidence so we are happy for that win [against Man City] and focused on today’s game.
“Van de Ven is a huge loss for us but we are all together as a team. Villa are a great team, honestly. We’re ready to give our best and hopefully, we are going to win.”
Villa skipper John McGinn spoke to Sky: ““We’ve got a good recent record in London. It feels nice to be back here but in the last couple of wins here we’ve had to work for it. They’ve probably deserved to win on a couple of those occasions so we need to be ready today.
“To get the three points we need to work, to run. Tottenham make you run a lot so we’re ready to do that. Spurs aren’t an easy team to play against, for most of the league, they’ve had their ups and downs this season but they bring a big threat.
“From our point of view we are quite happy Van de Ven is missing. We need to be at our best, they’re a team that will be competing up the top of the table come the end of the season.”
Spurs will be full of cheer after their midweek defeat of Manchester City in the Carabao Cup
Ange makes four changes from the team that lost at Crystal Palace last week, with Son coming back in and James Maddison dropped to the bench. Micky van de Ven misses out with his hamstring problem as Radu Dragusin comes in. Pape Sarr is in ahead of Yves Bissouma and partners Rodrigo Bentancur. Mikey Moore is on the bench and let’s hope to see him off the bench. Last week at Selhurst was no fun for the youngster.
Unai Emery opts for the orthodoxy of Jhon Duran on the benchand Ollie Watkins starting.
The starting teams
Tottenham: Vicario, Dragusin, Udogie, Romero, Kulusevski, Johnson, Porro, Sarr, Bentancur, Solanke, Son. Subs: Forster, Davies, Gray, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Moore, Werner, Richarlison
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, McGinn, Tielemans, Digne, Torres, Onana, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins. Subs: Olsen, Maatsen, Carlos, Mings, Kamara, Philogene, Buendia, Bailey, Duran
Injury list and form guide:
Tottenham
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Doubtful Romero (muscle), Son (muscle), Spence (groin), Werner (groin)
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Injured Odobert (hamstring, unknown), Van de Ven (hamstring, Nov 23)
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Suspended None
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Form LWWWWW
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Leading scorer Johnson, Son 3
Aston Villa
Preamble
Should be a good one, this. With Tottenham beating Manchester City in midweek and Aston Villa on such a good run in general, it’s two clubs with optimism flowing through them. Though optimism can be readily punctured at Spurs. And Aston Villa, have won three of their five Premier League matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, including each of the last two, say the stattos. Can Unai Emery outfox Ange-ball? It’s highly possible, you know. Villa can go third in the table if they win, while Spurs can climb to seventh.
Kick-off at 2pm, join me.