| |
Match Preview – Aston Villa vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Thursday 26 November 2009
Saturday’s evening kick off between Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, currently separated by three points in 5th and 4th positions, is one of the biggest games of the season so far for both sides. Although the campaign is still young, victory for Spurs would be a massive blow to Villa’s bid for fourth place, while defeat would see the two sides go level on 25 points. Tottenham will go into the game high on confidence after their nine goal destruction of Wigan on Sunday, and boss Harry Redknapp will be looking for his side to keep up the momentum that has seen them win their past two matches. In contrast, Villa were only able to draw at Burnley on Saturday thanks to a late Emile Heskey equaliser. However O’Neill’s side have been very strong at home and Tottenham can expect a much tougher test than they were given by Wigan.
Aston Villa
Curtis Davies is still unavailable for Villa due to a long-term shoulder injury, while Wilfred Bouma has suffered a setback in his bid to return to action after 16 months out. Their central defensive colleague, James Collins is also a doubt for this weekends fixture, however this is an area of the team where Villa are fortunate to be blessed with strength in depth. Carlos Cuellar has proved an able deputy alongside Richard Dunne, creating the excellent defensive form which has seen the side concede only 13 goals in as many league games. Summer signing Stewart Downing came on as a substitute against Burnley to make his first appearance for the club and he can be expected to make the bench again. Despite scoring against Burnley, his first club goal since May, Heskey may not have been enough to displace John Carew in the starting line-up.
1 Friedel
2 L. Young - 5 Dunne - 24 Cuellar - 25 Warnock
8 Milner - 19 Petrov - 4 Sidwell - 7 A. Youngr
10 Carew - 11 Agbonlahor
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur - For Spurs, Luka Modric is on the road to recovery from the broken leg he sustained against Birmingham. He may make the bench at Villa but is unlikely to start. In defence, Ledley King may miss out but Sebastian Bassong came through the final 10 minutes against Wigan without any problems after a lay-out with a hamstring injury, and can expect to be back in contention for a starting place. Harry Redknapp’s team selections have been difficult to predict so far this season due to his policy of rotation, designed to keep his large squad both happy and fresh. Despite the quality of the performance against Wigan, the manager is unlikely to start with the same XI, especially given that his side face Manchester United in a League Cup Quarter Final three days later. Robbie Keane may come in for Peter Crouch, while Jermaine Jenas could come in for Tom Huddlestone.
1 Gomes
22 Corluka - 29 Woodgate - 19 Bassong - 32- Assou-Ekotto
7 Lennon - 12 Palacios - 8 Jenas - 21 Kranjcar
18 Defoe - 10 Keaner
In Redknapp’s post match comments on Sunday he stated his belief that Villa, along with his own side and Manchester City have a great chance of breaking into the top four this season: “why can’t it be done?” He will therefore be well aware of the importance of Saturday’s game against a Villa side whose manager promised this week will “throw absolutely everything” into their attempt to break into the Champions League places. For Tottenham, both Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon will both be looking to pick up where they left off against Wigan and Villa’s defence will need to be on top form to keep them out. The Villains, however, have their own pace merchants to worry the Spurs back-line, in the form of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. The attacking flair of these evenly matched sides should make for an exciting match, but home advantage may give Villa the edge.
See the full list of OLBG's free Football Tips here.
Related Articles
| |