Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are set for a titanic battle on Sunday in the Premier League, with Champions League football on the line for the duo.
Matty Cash is expected to start the game at right-back, but he might just get a hostile reception from the away fans, especially when he is attacking down the flanks.
This comes after his challenge which injured Rodrigo Bentancur during Aston Villa’s 2-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November – the midfielder proceeded to make a swift recovery.
The Spurs fans were raging at the £14 million player, at the time, because they recall him doing the same towards Matt Doherty a number of seasons ago, but Gabby Agbonlahor has called for calm ahead of the storm.
The former striker posted on Twitter that he doesn’t want ‘no idiot Spurs players’ trying anything with Matty Cash and how the tackle was an ‘accident’.
The incident with Rodrigo Bentancur was blown out of proportion at the time and emotions were high because the player himself had just returned from a long-term injury.
It’s the job of football supporters to overreact to situations that are much smaller than what’s played out and Gabby Agbonlahor thinks that is exactly what is happening here ahead of this top-four battle.
Matty Cash v Tottenham
“I hope no idiot Spurs players try anything with Matty Cash,” warned Agbonlahor.
“His tackle in the previous game against Spurs was an accident! Fan bases trying to cause issues that players don’t have!”
Goals galore during Aston Villa v Tottenham
It was a bit of a surprise that only three goals were scored last time out, but Ange Postecoglou’s side probably felt they should have scored more during the first half.
Well, expect goals galore at Villa Park because both teams will go for it given what is on the line and how both teams’ defences aren’t exactly providing the stability needed.
Spurs only looked comfortable, from a defensive aspect, against Crystal Palace last time out because they hardly come out to play, but there are vulnerabilities there.
And the same could be said for our own defence – 3-0 up against Nottingham Forest and proceeded to concede two goals.
Then 2-0 up at Luton Town, once again, conceded two goals before that very crucial Lucas Digne winner.
This might just come down to who actually defends better rather than what the attackers do because it’s pretty clear what the weaknesses are here.
