Key events
Goal! 12 min: Villa 0-1 Tottenham (Gallagher)
Great hit! A throw from the Spurs right is half-cleared. Gallagher kills the ball with an excellent first touch, getting it perfectly out of his feet, then belts a low, well-struck shot low into a corner!
9 min: Palinha floats a good searching diagonal pass, right to left, and finds Tel in an attacking position. But his first touch lets him down. This Villa side looks a bit rickety, they’re clearly not all that familiar with each other. So far it’s been all Spurs.
8 min: “I haven’t been this nervous since the Champions League final,” writes Alexandra. “The absurd desperation of a relegation scrap is something I haven’t experienced since 2008/09, and in that season we escaped after a proactive hiring of Harry Redknapp in October and some good signings in January, ultimately ending up in 8th and in the League Cup final.
“How I crave for 8th place now! Especially considering West Ham lost earlier, we must win this in order to put some space between us and the drop, and we have absolutely no margin for error. Even when we played the Europa League final, I didn’t feel this level of pressure.”
7 min: Udogie gets to the byline running on to a pass from the left wing, leaving Sancho behind. Sancho didn’t look interested in tracking that run … the ball went out for a goal-kick anyway. Barkley hasn’t started well either, again giving the ball aawy before that.
5 min: Richarlison has an early chance at goal after Emi Martinez plays a poor pass for Barkley, but scuffs his shot, then Spurs have a corner. And then another corner. A bright start by the visitors.
First half kick-off!
HERE. WE. GO.
Half of the Villa Park pitch is bathed in a delightfully mellow evening light. Tottenham fans won’t care about the aesthetics: Only three points will do.
“Filip makes a good point,” writes Dave. “The FA (Premier League, surely?) really need to look at clubs deliberately sending out a “weakened”, i.e. crap, side and/or tanking during a game they feel isn’t that important. Crystal Palace were an absolute embarrassment earlier.”
Here come the playersamid pyrotechnics and a blast of rock music at Villa Park. Whether you like it or not, a football match is about to take place!
“Let’s be confidentbe brave, and have real character,” says Hoddle, asked what he’d be telling the players if he was Tottenham manager. “They’ve got to have that positive mental attitude today.”
We’re close to kick-off. Karen Carney says Tottenham’s players have no choice but to step up this evening and in the run-in. “You’ve got to deal with the pressure: That’s why you are professional.”
I hear that.
Credit to himDe Zerbi is very much giving off the ‘strong, experienced, unflappable manager’ energy. Just the ticket for a desperate relegation fight.
“Fully expecting Tottenham to win simply based on the garbage lineup from Emery today,” emails Filip. “Disgraceful.”
De Zerbi speaks. Has he seen improvement in the players since the win at Wolves? “Yes, they are working very well.
“I’m very happy to work with these guys. My target is to help them to show what we are.”
Simons is out. Is he confident in those coming in?
“I have big confidence in my players. Tel is a young talent … Udogie is important for us, one of the best, and Palinha is one of the first 11, if he plays or not. He’s a big lever for us.” (I think he said lever.)
Anywaywith a much-changed Villa having more than half an eye on their Europa League semi-final and West Ham having collapsed at Brentford yesterday, this is what you might call a gilt-edged chance for Tottenham to haul themselves out of the bottom three.
Spurs fans – how are you feeling? You can email me.
Pre-match readinganyone?
Villa’s Emery now speaks to TNT Sports.
“When we are playing [multiple] matches in a few days … sometimes players are not 100% … McGinn was confident yesterday, but he was not feeling 100%, and we decided not to take a risk, so he is not going to be involved today.”
Is this a chance to set the tone for a big week?
“We are in a key moment. We are playing very, very exciting matches … in the Premier League, because we are fighting for the top five … And we are playing semi-finals [in Europe]. In the beginning of the season we were dreaming it …”
Poland’s Matty Cash had a chat a while back.
“You want to try and get as many points as you can,” he revealed.
“It’ll be a good battle, a good test, and hopefully we can win.”
This is astonishing stuff so far!
“Every game is important, if we get three today, we’re closer to Champions League … on Thursday we have an opportunity to put ourselves in a final. It’s exciting times.”
Any concerns about the last two results? (Defeats by Fulham and Forest.)
“We started the season really poorly, everyone was questioning us, then we showed what we are capable of,” he roars.
“Villa park is an amazing place to play, in front of our fans, the atmosphere is good, so hopefully today it’ll be like that.”
West HamTottenham’s main relegation rivals, have three matches remaining: Arsenal (H), Newcastle (A) and Leeds (H). Tricky, very tricky.
Spurs, after tonight, have Leeds (H), Chelsea (A), and Everton (H).
Forest’s run-in looks like this: Chelsea (A), Newcastle (H), Manchester United (A), Bournemouth (H).
There has not been a draw in 21 previous league meetings between these sides, stretching back 14 years: the second-longest such run in Premier League history, points out the presenter Lynsey Hipgrave.
“Tottenham have got to be strong and bold,” says Glenn Hoddle on pundit duty for TNT Sports, adding that he is surprised at all the Villa changes having lost their last two games.
Team news
Seven changes for Villa: Tyrone Mings, Victor Lindelof, Ian Maatsen, Ross Barkley, Lamare Bogarde, Tammy Abraham, Jadon Sancho all come in, with Emery managing resources before the Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest on Thursday. John McGinn is not in the squad.
Four changes for Spurs: Destiny Udogie, João Palinha, Richarlison, Mathys Tel are introduced by De Zerbi, Palinha having scored the winner against Wolves last time out.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen; Bogarde, Tielemans; Sancho, Barkley, Rogers; Abraham. Substitutes: Bizot, Buendia, Watkins, Digne, Torres, Garcia, Douglas Luiz, Bailey, Konsa.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Kinsky; Porro, Danso, van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha; Muani, Gallagher, Tel; Richarlison. Substitutes: Austin, Dragusin, Bissouma, Maddison, Gray, Bergvall,Spence, Sarr, Souza.
Referee: Sam Barrott (West Yorkshire)
Preamble
Relegation, for a club of Tottenham’s stature, is unthinkable. At least it should be given their resources, history and stature. But a deeply horrible season sees them teetering in 18th place, the third and final relegation spot, with four matches remaining.
It’s not all bad news: since taking over from the sacked Igor Tudor – who took over from the sacked Thomas Frank – Roberto de Zerbi has managed to generate four points from the past two matches, having opened his tenure with a 1-0 loss away against Sunderland.
Even better, perhaps, is that West Ham crumbled to a 3-0 loss away at Brentford yesterday, meaning Spurs can overtake the Hammers and climb out of the relegation zone with victory at Aston Villa this evening.
Easier said than done against Unai Emery’s fifth-placed Villans, who are well on course for Champions League qualification, but De Zerbi has undoubtedly made a positive impact. Spurs fans will be praying for another uptick.
Kick-off: 7pm BST
