Ange Postecoglou’s men had pulled off what many thought was impossible in ousting Manchester City from the EFL Cup on Wednesday, but their West Midlands counterparts were outwitted at home to Crystal Palace.
Match preview
Flash back to the middle of September when, in the wake of Spurs’ North London derby defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Arsenal, a defiant Postecoglou declared that he “always” wins trophies in his second year in charge of a club – a claim history shows us is quite accurate.
It was on Wednesday evening that the Australian took a huge step towards fulfilling that promise to the Tottenham faithful, with Timo Werner ending his profligate streak and Pape Sarr curling home a sublime finish from 25 yards to crush Manchester City’s quadruple dreams.
The quarter-finals now bring another mammoth Mancunian test in store for Spurs, who face Manchester United – likely to be under the wing of Ruben Amorim later this month – but putting right the errors of their last Premier League outing now assumes the number one priority of Postecoglou.
A toothless Tottenham was worth nothing from their trip to the hitherto winless Crystal Palace in gameweek nine, and that is just what they got, as Jean-Philippe Mateta fired the Eagles to their first top-flight win of the season, leaving Spurs eighth in the standings.
The Lilywhites already face a five-point deficit to make up to their fourth-placed visitors, but the shock beating of Man City in midweek represented their fifth straight home victory in all competitions; AZ Alkmaar, Qarabag, Brentford and West Ham United have all been victims of that streak too.
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery in September 2024.
Villa head coach Unai Emery – whose Arsenal connections means he should not enjoy a particularly warm welcome to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – can empathise with Postecoglou when it comes to being outfought by Crystal Palace, who rocked up to Villa Park and left their name in the pot for the EFL Cup quarter-final draw.
Despite playing the larger part of the match without the two jewels in their crown in Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton, Palace struck first through the former, before Daichi Kamada ensured that Jhon Duran’s effort would prove meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
It is safe to say that the last week of October will not be remembered fondly by the Lions, who were also left to lament a last-minute Evanilson header in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, that denied them the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal into the top three of the standings.
But Emery’s side – who only trail Arsenal on goal difference before the weekend’s fixtures – have now gone seven without defeat in the top flight of English football and have excelled on the road all season long, winning five and drawing one of their six away matches in all tournaments.
Moreover, the Villans have scored at least twice in all of those away matches and were 2-1 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November 2023, though Spurs then went to Villa Park and won 4-0 in March to stop the rot in this fixture, which had seen them lose three in a row.
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Team News
But the Spurs win came at a cost as Micky van de Ven was visibly distressed when taken off with another hamstring issue early in the first half of that win over Man City, one that will see him ruled out for the weekend clash and into the international break.
However, Cristian Romero and Timo Werner should be OK despite also not making it through the full 90 in midweek, while there is also hope that skipper Son Heung-min will be back from his thigh problem in time to begin Sunday’s game.
Djed Spence (groin) is less likely to make the cut, though, and Wilson Odobert (hamstring) is definitely out following a “serious” setback. As Van de Ven takes his place in the infirmary, Radu Dragusin will deputise at the back.
While Postecoglou waits on the green light for a few of his troops, upcoming visitors Aston Villa should be only without Ross Barkley – unspecified – when they arrive for Sunday’s tantalising affair.
Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara came through to the final whistle in midweek after their respective knee injuries but the pair should be amongst the players shuffled to the bench by Emery, who will revert to his strongest team despite the looming Champions League trip to Club Brugge.
Duran is still banging incredibly hard on Emery’s door for a Premier League start but talisman Ollie Watkins – omitted from the squad in midweek – will no doubt displace the Colombian at the tip of the attack here.
Prediction Tottenham Hotspur starting lineup:
Vicario; Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Kulusevski, Sarr, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son
Probable Aston Villa starting lineup:
Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Aston Villa
The EFL Cup exploits of Spurs and Villa shouldn’t be taken as read for this clash, with a robust Lilywhites team squaring up against a weakened City side, while Villa’s changes were plentiful against Crystal Palace’s A-team.
With Postecoglou’s men proving near-flawless at home in recent weeks and Villa finding the net for fun on the road, Sunday’s game is going to be a great watch for neutrals, and we feel that this one has a high-scoring draw written all over it.
