Aston Villa are fifth in the Premier League table, 24 points better off than the lowly, seemingly doomed Tottenham Hotspur heading into Sunday's duel in the West Midlands.
On paper, this is a game Spurs should not win. However, odd things tend to occur down the stretch, and our desperation, combined with the Villans' alternate priorities, means Roberto De Zerbi's depleted outfit have a fighting chance.
If we are to survive, a result is imperative at Villa Park. That's the feeling. We don't want to be heading to Chelsea in a couple of weeks time needing to win to avoid the ignominy of those folk being the executioners.
Despite claiming our first Premier League win of 2026 last weekend, the level of optimism in N17 is rather subdued after another tough round of injury news. De Zerbi, though, won't tolerate anyone feeling sorry for themselves. He's embracing the challenge, and this group of players, despite everything that's conspired against them during the run-in so far, are fighting for this manager.
Villa Park has been a happy hunting ground for Tottenham
"It’s all negative things, and it’s rubbish. I want to keep my focus on ourselves, on the qualities of my players," De Zerbi asserted on Friday, attempting to shift the mentality of his squad and its supporters for the final month of a torrid season.
He said after a crushing draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion that his team are capable of winning five out of five to preserve their Premier League status. Well, Spurs are one for one on that front, and now chasing an unlikely win at Villa Park.
They're aided by the fact that this fixture arrives between Villa's Europa League semi-final tie with Nottingham Forest, and Unai Emery is bound to rotate heavily on Sunday night. His team are eight points clear of Brighton in sixth, likely to secure Champions League football anyway, so they're not desperate for a result this weekend. Thursday night's clash is doubtless more significant.
Moreover, Tottenham have enjoyed their visits to Villa Park over the past 20 years. In fact, we've triumphed at Aston Villa's home more times (10) than any other away ground in the Premier League since 2006.
We're happy hunters when we visit the West Midlands, and some of our recent victories have been emphatic. Antonio Conte's Spurs thumped the Villans 4-0 towards the end of the 2021/22 season, then Ange Postecoglou's side won by the same margin two seasons later.
Unfortunately, De Zerbi doesn't have Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to call upon this Sunday. He doesn't even have James Maddison, who was the inspiration behind our impressive triumph in March 2024.
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