Tomorrow afternoon, Spurs will face fellow Premier League side Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round proper. Thursday evening, at the time, was the club’s biggest game of the season. Now this game certainly is. Should they lose, the Europa League will be the only chance of ending the trophy drought.
Coming into the game, Spurs have won their previous two outings against tomorrow’s hosts, scoring eight times and conceding just once. In March 2024, Ange’s side pulled off a 4-0 win at Villa Park, before a 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last November. That feels like a long time ago now.
Something that could, unfortunately, be crucial, is preparation. Unai Emery’s side have won just one of their eight Premier League games following a game in the Champions League this season, and that was a win at home to Wolves, after minnows Young Boys, so a fairly easy schedule.
They have, this time, had a week off – unlike Spurs – whose results after Europe are also pretty dire. After playing Qarabag, they beat Manchester United 3-0, but then lost to Brighton and Crystal Palace the next two times they had played in the Europa League. Then, they lost at home to Ipswich Town after playing in Europe.
Next time Ange’s side played after a game in Europe, they drew 1-1 at home to Fulham. Then a win over Southampton, one of the worst Premier League teams ever. In January, they gave Leicester their only win in their last nine league games, losing the other eight. Finally, they did win over Brentford. So three wins in eight games, including two really poor sides.
Although they have not played in the Europa League this week, they had a slog of a game at Anfield on Thursday night, so it makes no difference. They will have also travelled back to London, and then back up to the Midlands again, whilst Villa have had the optimal preparation all week. In fact, Spurs have played twice since they last played.
That would be the biggest concern. Furthermore, it looks like Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero are still a way away. The speed of the likes of Ollie Watkins, Marcus Rashford, Donyell Malen and co against slower players in the backline will be a huge concern.
Not feeling very optimistic, but ah well, let’s see.