Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur – Preview, Lineups, Key Men, Score Prediction
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Fixture: Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur
Competition: Premier League
Kick-off: 3rd May, 19:00 UK time
Tottenham Hotspur will be facing a month of mayhem, with the only thing left to chance is whether May will end on a soul cleansing high, or a gut wrenching low. Despite finally picking up their first win for 2026 against Wolves last weekend, they remain deep in trouble.
Roberto De Zerbi has brought about some improvement since his appointment, but it is akin to taking the first steps towards base camp, with a mountain left to climb. Wolves after all looked good for at least a point, despite having little left to motivate themselves with.
The Italian has been left unhappy with the negativity surrounding Tottenham from the outside and has told his players that it is ‘rubbish’.
Aston Villa need five points to confirm a top five spot, with last week’s results seeing Liverpool leapfrogging them on goal difference. Unai Emery will be careful to not leave anything to chance, even if he does have an alternative Champions League route in the Europa League.
Playing Liverpool and Manchester City in their final two fixtures, the Villans will want to have sewn up Champions League qualification before then, allowing themselves the breathing room to concentrate on a potential Europa League final.
Just as it appeared that Spurs were treading towards a settled starting line-up, De Zerbi was dealt the hammer blow of further injuries to Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke. Simons suffered an ACL injury that will see him miss the World Cup, while Solanke has a hamstring issue. The pair join Mohamed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Cristian Romero on the sidelines.
Destiny Udogie is fit again to return, but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is continuing to try to shrug off a hernia problem.
Amadou Onana is a confirmed absence for Aston Villa.
Tottenham will hope there is some tiredness in the Aston Villa legs from their midweek Europa League clash with Nottingham Forest.
Predicted Lineups
Recent Form (league)
Aston Villa: LWDWL
Tottenham Hotspur: WDLLD
Key Men
Aston Villa
Morgan Rogers has established himself as the talisman and it is talismanic performances that he will want to put in, with the World Cup and the summer window approaching fast.
Ollie Watkins will know that he has an outside chance again of making it to the summer showpiece, with Solanke injured and Dominic Calvert-Lewin yet to fully convince Thomas Tuchel. Watkins will want to make every six of the guaranteed fixtures remaining count, something which he failed to achieve against Fulham with Tuchel watching.
The starting midfield of Bogarde, Tielemans, McGinn and Buendia were all substituted off on 75 minutes, with Emery clearly displeased with the output from the quartet. The Villans midfield will be in focus once again, with the game coming so close to their Europa League fixture, and it might be pivotal in deciding the fortunes of Villa, and Spurs, at either end.
Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin Danso was backed by De Zerbi to remain at the club beyond the summer after a mistake against Brighton, and if that is to be the case, Danso will want it to be at Premier League level rather than the Championship and seek to put in a performance befitting those desires.
De Zerbi said that Mathys Tel needs to do ‘nothing more, because I’m happy with him,’ when asked what the Frenchman must do to get into his starting lineup. It appears that De Zerbi’s hand will be forced by injuries nonetheless and Tel must make his chance count, whether on the wing, or as a centre-forward.
Match Prediction
Emery will want to finish the season strongly, especially after being title challengers for large stretches of the campaign. Results henceforth would have minimal impact this season, as Champions League football, something which they could achieve via the Europa League too, is the prize whether they finish third or finish fifth.
Where the impact will be felt is in the seasons upcoming, as Emery’s ambitions would surely dictate that he would want a proper tilt at the title rather than being content with merely qualifying for the premier European competition and finishing third in that context certainly would have a better ring in the ears of any potential signings and their agents.
De Zerbi though has no such luxury and can only concern himself with the immediate. The Italian will hope that Emery chooses to rest his stars, prioritising the Forest fixture, but Spurs fans will approach that thought with trepidation, knowing all too well that even that might not be enough for the game, or the season.
Overall, Tottenham still had to scrap their way to victory away at Wolves last time out and beating Aston Villa requires reaching another level entirely, which may be too much to ask just yet.
Inside Futbol Score Prediction
Aston Villa 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Where To Watch?
Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League will be broadcast live in the UK on the TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and HBO Max channels with a kick-off at 19:00 UK time.
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