Matchday: Tottenham 3 – 1 Aston Villa

Tottenham face off against Aston Villa Monday evening in what should – in theory – be among the easiest matches Spurs have had so far this season.

All of that is just theory, of course. As bad as Villa have looked over the first ten matches of the Premier League season, they were only ever as bad as Tim Sherwood. A lot could be said of the former Tottenham youth coach and manager, but sustainability has never stood out as one of his style’s strongsuits.

Villa signed Rémi Garde to a three-and-a-half year contract and he might even be present on the sidelines Monday. That shouldn’t change much about what Tottenham can expect from Villa, though. Until Garde has time to settle in, Villa will still be an Island of Misfit Toys.

What of Tottenham, though? They’re coming off a triumphant 5-1 victory over one of the worst teams in the league and would no doubt like to follow that up with another statement win at home Monday. Mauricio Pochettino’s choices have never been harder though when it comes to the line up. With a must-win against Anderlecht coming up Thursday and the North London Derby a mere three days after that, this Villa match could have been one that featured mostly bench players.

Instead, Pochettino has elected to start an unchanged lineup from the one that smashed Bournemouth a week ago.

Aston Villa, to their discredit, have named a pretty tame squad, one that inexplicably features former Tottenham liability Alan Hutton.

On paper – or rather, on Twitter – these look like profoundly mismatched teams. The primary threats we cited in our Key Battles feature Saturday – left-back Jordan Amavi and striker Rudy Gestede – are both kept on the bench. What Villa interim coach Kevin MacDonald – or Garde himself – have in store is anyone’s guess, though all signs point to a Spurs victory.

Such confident words have been punished before, though. Check back at halftime to get snap reactions and some revised expectations.

Next: Halftime