Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur will lock horns on Sunday in a heavyweight Premier League showdown, with a lot on the line.
That pot of Champions League gold is what both teams crave, with Unai Emery and Ange Postecoglou doing outstanding jobs at their respective clubs.
One man who Aston Villa have to be wary of is the flying machine, Son Heung-min, who helped his side to a comeback 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Tottenham captain admitted that ‘you are more excited’ for games against teams like Aston Villa because of the magnitude of the match, as he told Stadium Astro.
As of this moment, five points separate the two sides, but the London club do have a game in hand – against Chelsea.
Aston Villa can’t afford to think of anything but three points here, even if a point suits them because of their better goal difference, with Son Heung-min sharing his thoughts.
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur
“We try to focus on ourselves,” said Son.
On wanting to get into the top four: “Of course, that’s why we are working hard. This is just the same game.
“If you play against Man City or Villa, obviously, you are excited more because it’s a big game.
“But every single weekend and every single game for us is the same and we want to be motivated as high as possible and perform as high as possible. It will be a massive game. They have been fantastic this season. We have to sacrifice there and we go there, do our best and get the three points.”
Aston Villa and Tottenham’s style of play
It’s one of the most entertaining and eye-catching in the Premier League, with that high line the bread and butter for the duo.
During the reverse fixture, Spurs carved us open time and time again during the early stages and should have been two or three ahead before we equalised on the stroke of half-time.
But it changed on its head in the second half, with the tactical switch from Emery, as we controlled the game and, the man of the moment, Ollie Watkins went on to secure the winner.
It also needs to be noted that Spurs were without James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero for that game.
Those three make a huge difference to their XI, and if this game isn’t a goal-fest of the highest order on Sunday, then something will have to go seriously wrong.
