Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa - Match Preview
Tottenham Hotspur produced another excellent performance in UEFA champions League, winning the game by a comfortable 4-1 margin against FC Twente. Spurs now get ready to host Aston Villa in the English Premier League. Tottenham
are currently on the 8thspot in points table, and will be hoping to claw their way back to the top half of it. Spurs endured a disappointing 1-0 loss at the hands of fellow Londoners West Ham last weekend.
Aston Villa meanwhile are doing better in the league and are on 5th
spot, they would also have the match between Arsenal and Chelsea on the back of their minds. If the London derby ends in a draw and they manage to beat Tottenham the Villains may find themselves in top 4 at the end of the weekend.
Ashley Young will be one of the key players in the team; he has a good record of 24 goals for the team in 127 league appearances. There will be added spotlight on Young due to the summer long speculation that he was heading to
Tottenham. The winger however decided to commit his future to Aston Villa and facing Tottenham he might have a point or two to prove.
Rafael Van der Vaart who was dubbed as the best summer buy for any team, will once again be in the starting lineup for Spurs. The Dutchman has started well for the London club and has already scored 2 goals in 4 league games. Another
man in form has been the Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko; he has also knocked in 4 goals in 9 games in all competitions.
French manager Gerrard Houllier who finally took over Aston Villa last week should be settled now, and no more surprises are to be expected from him after he gave a shock start to Nigel Reo-Coker and Emile Heskey. Marc Albrighton
is another man who may be in reckoning for a starting spot.
The 31 year old Stiliyan Petrov, who has been a sure shot starter, may be in for a surprise as Houllier has not been impressed with the experienced striker in last few games.
The manager has made it clear that he wants someone with a lot more speed and higher level of fitness. He added that Petrov is not exactly the speedy man he used to be. Stephen Ireland, the man who came the other way following
the James Milner move may be the man to replace Petrov in attack.
Tottenham on the other hand still do not have their best striker Jermain Defoe back, he is recovering from a hernia operation. They would be looking to come out with a stronger midfield and dominate the game from middle of the
park. Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas are expected to pair up in centre of midfield. Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric may also be favourites to start. While the left sided Gareth Bale will be a key man as he has been putting on impressive performances one after
another.
Spurs are expected to go out with a 4-5-1 formation, and the tall English striker Peter Crouch will be playing upfront as the lone striker. The formation may suggest that a direct approach of getting the ball high and quickly to
Crouch may be the way to go, but if Villa are to believe that they may be in for a surprise.
Spurs’ manager Harry Redknapp is anything but conventional, the man also known as Harry Hudini has the ability to come up with plans on the go. The Tottenham boss is great at thinking on his feet and can change the shape of the
team with few loud instructions while standing on the touchline.
The match will also be a battle between 2 teams who are fighting this season for the coveted 4th spot. Manchester City although may have something to say about this. But for now it is between the two of them to decide
who has a better chance of making it to the UEFA Champions’ League next season.
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