Key events
8 min: Contemplative looks from the fans. They know a good start doesn’t count for much. Joao Gomes draws a foul inside his own half. Villa need to spend a patch of time on the ball. Wan-Bissaka is the outlet on the right where he links with Manzambi. Back they go, though, to Suzuki who hoofs it long to Jackson who fouls van den Ven.
7 min: Porro almost combines with Fernandes with a lovely scything pass down the right tram, but there’s a little too much on it. Thumbs up all round. Spurs are back on it with Savio jinking down that right channel but the cross is repelled. Good from the home side. They’ve looked good. Ruggeri is getting a working over at left back.
5 min: Spurs win it on halfway and play a quick long ball for Solanke who holds off Lindelof before winning a corner. Savio targets the near post but the clearing header is firm. Wan-Bissaka then showsd off his one-on-one tackling to hold off the Spurs advance down the right.
3 min: Manzambi’s first meaningful touch is a good one, wriggling away from contact and keeping the ball moving. Kamara also looking sharp early in Villa’s midfield. Manzambi then is back on it down the right where he connects with McGinn.
1 min: Early pressure down the left from Spurs has a cross come in and ends with an early touch from Suzuki who claims it.
Kick-off!
Spurs get us underway.
The players are out the aforementioned tunnel.
There’s a lot at stake for teams that spent close to half a billion pounds combined this summer.
Still, they’ve got one goal and three points between them.
They simply have to show more today.
Joe Cole is seriously answering a serious question about what he did in the tunnel between the final pre-match chat and kick-off.
I hate to sound like an old fart but that’s a load of nonsense content, isn’t it?
Not saying the game’s gone, but it’s going somewhere if this is serious discourse.
Nicked this off the BBC, but too good not to share.
Since Tottenham won the 2025 Europa League final 16 months ago…
Ange Postecoglou – sacked
Thomas Frank – sacked
Igor Tudor – leaves role after five league games
Roberto de Zerbi – three wins in 11 league games
This is the 176th meeting between the sides.
Spurs have the historical edge having won 79 to Villa’s 62. There have been 32 draws.
The last meeting ended in a 2-1 win for Spurs at Villa Park, but Villa have won on their last two visits to this ground; both by 2-1 scores.
Alejandro Garnacho’s difficult start to life at Villa continues.
The on-loan Chelsea winger has played only 31 minutes this season and is back on the bench against Tottenham, with Unai Emery preferring Johan Manzambi from the start.
There’s an argument he’s scored the best goal in Premier League history (it’s a contender at least!) and yet he’ll likely be remembered for his petulance and wasted potential.
Then again, a winner off the bench today could ignite a new chapter.
“We want a competitive team and the players ready to compete on the standard we have,” Unai Emery said after Villa’s midweek victory, their first in all competitions this season.
That competition for places is clear today: Manzambi starts, while Tammy Abraham, Alejandro Garnacho and Ross Barkley are among the attacking options on the bench.
Last bit of Spurs natter before I pivot to Villa.
Tottenham’s problem is not simply getting into dangerous areas. They have had 119 touches in opposition penalty areas this season, one fewer than Arsenal. The problem is the next action: Spurs are taking 3.97 touches per shot in the box, the highest figure in the Premier League. They are getting close, but they are not acting quickly enough.
Glenn Hoddle, on TNT, wonders if De Zerbi knows what his best XI looks like.
Well, Spurs have made 12 changes to their starting XI across the opening four league games, more than any other team.
So I guess the answer is an emphatic ‘no’.
The manager, though, is pretty confident. “I think we are going to win many games and score many goals,” he said after the loss to Liverpool this week.
Catch up on this weekend’s talking points:
So, what’s going wrong with Tottenham?
That’s a heck of a question with loads of answers.
Luckily we have Andrew Beasley to answer that:
Aston Villa team
Summer signing Johan Manzambi makes his debut this afternoon in a much-changed team.
Joao Gomes returns after his ban following an opening-day red card.
Matteo Ruggeri and Tyrone Mings are also included in the startign XI with Ross Barkley dropping to the bench.
Aston Villa XI: Suzuki, Wan-Bissaka, Mings, Lindelof, Ruggeri, Joao Gomes, Kamara, McGinn, Buendia, Manzambi, Jackson.
Subs: Wright, Cash, Harwoo-Bellis, Barkley, Garnacho, Abraham, Mbaye, Bogarde, Hemmings.
Tottenham team
Pedro Porro returns for Spurs and slots in at right-back in place of Archie Gray.
Sandro Tonali also returns to the starting line up while Conor Gallagher, who bagged a goal in the 3-1 Caraboa Cup defeat to Liverpool midweek, drops to the bench.
Tottenham: Kinsky, Porro, Van Hecke, Van De Ven, Robertson, Tonali, Bentancur, Savio, Fernandes, Marmoush, Solanke.
Subs: Dubravka, Tosin, Senesi, Gallagher, Maddison, Udogie, Gray, Bergvall, Kudus.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
It’s a bit early in the season to start talking about ‘must-win’ games, but this could be one of them for both sides.
Neither Spurs nor Villa have secured a victory so far in this nascent campaign, and, well, they must start stacking up some ticks in the W column before things really turn sour.
Tottenham are 17th with two points, two places and one point ahead of Villa, but they’ve not scored a league goal across four games. That is six hours of Premier League football without finding the net, a run that has left Roberto De Zerbi’s expensively rebuilt side looking short of confidence, cohesion and, most worryingly, attacking threat.
Villa have only scored once, although they arrive with a little more encouragement after beating Coventry in the Carabao Cup in midweek. Unai Emery’s side have also won four of their last five meetings with Spurs, including their most recent visit to this stadium.
Both clubs began the season with European ambitions. A win today would not resolve every problem, but it would at least provide some breathing space. Another afternoon without three points, however, would make the pressure around both clubs considerably harder to ignore.
Kick-off at 12:30.
Teams and other bits to come.