Aston Villa head into their mouth-watering showdown against Tottenham in fine form after winning five of their first nine Premier League matches.
Unai Emery’s men currently sit in fourth position, five points and four places above Spurs who occupy eighth.
It’s a huge match in the race for the Champions League, as Villa aim to win three successive matches at Tottenham for the first time in 100 years.
While Micky van de Ven is out injured for Spurs, it isn’t going to be an easy game for Aston Villa, who still have to come up against the likes of Heung-min Son, Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke.
That said, with nearly a fully fit squad to select from and the dynamite in the boots of Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins, there’s no surprise Paul Merson is predicting Villa to beat Tottenham on Sunday.
Aston Villa team news ahead of Tottenham
Aston Villa have a rare luxury in the modern game as most of their players are fit for selection this weekend, including Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara.
Mings was brilliant in the defeat to Crystal Palace, as was Kamara, who will have handed Emery a selection headache for the trip to Tottenham.
The most notable first-team absentee is Ross Barkley, as Emery confirmed he would be out for the next couple of weeks.
Although the Spaniard didn’t specify any details of the injury, Barkley will be a huge miss for Aston Villa after scoring in the draw against Bournemouth last weekend.
The midfielder’s absence will give Emery a decision to make in central midfield, although it’s the usual pairing of Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana who will perhaps start after being rested on Wednesday.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Tottenham
Emery made 10 changes to the side that lost against Palace in the Carabao Cup, and the Spanish tactician will return to his usual starting XI here.
Emi Martinez recently picked up the Lev Yashin trophy for the second year running, with the Argentine returning between the sticks for Joe Gauci.
As for the defence, Villa should line up with a back four of Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne; the same backline that started last weekend’s draw against Bournemouth.
With Barkley absent and Kamara unlikely to start two games in the space of four days, Tielemans and Onana should return to the engine room on Sunday, with Rogers deployed just ahead.
Emery has a huge call to make on Leon Bailey, who continues to look out of sorts, and he could drop to the bench for this clash.
Captain John McGinn should start on the right with the ‘exciting’ Jacob Ramsey on the left and Watkins up front, despite Jhon Duran netting in the defeat to Palace.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Tielemans, Onana; McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
