Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa: Official line ups
By Tom Vinall
This Sunday afternoon, at 14:00 GMT, Spurs will host Aston Villa for game week ten of the 24/25 Premier League season. Both teams have lost to Crystal Palace in the last week - though Spurs have beaten Manchester City in that time.
For the game today, Ange Postecoglu has opted for a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, Dragusin, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Sarr; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
Son is back in the XI, after injury kept him out of the games against AZ Alkmaar, Palace and City. Fans had little doubt that he would have thrived in the win over City, if fit - particularly with his goalscoring record against them - in games that Spurs want to win, anyway.
Dragusin gets his opportunity in the starting XI for a Premier League game after Micky van de Ven's injury against City. Ollie Watkins will be a big test for him, with and without the ball.
Sarr starts today after an impressive display against City in midweek, where he scored the second goal of the game with a lovely curling effort from outside the box. Ange goes with the midfield from the first half of the win over City in midweek. It worked very well then, so if it isn't broken, etc etc.
In his last six games for Spurs, Solanke has been unable to register a shot on target - stats like these will need to change if they are to win this game. Kulusevski once again showed how good he is in the win over City, and will obviously be very important to any chance of getting a result.
As for the visitors, Ross Barkley is the only player unavailable through injury, so they are more or less at full strength for this game. Unai Emery has opted for a line up of; Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Onana, Tielemans, Ramsey; Rogers, Watkins. A very good side, and Spurs will have to be at their best to win this game.
This fixture last season yielded a 2-1 win for Villa, right at the height of Spurs' injury and suspension crisis, in a game that Ange Postecoglu's side probably did enough to win, particularly when taking absentees into account.
Should Spurs win this game, they will go up to 7th in the League, but if they lose - they could finish the game week all the way down in 13th place.
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