Tottenham will kick off the New Year in the Premier League with a clash against Aston Villa on Sunday. Two teams who would like to quickly put 2022 behind them, this is a tie that could get quite interesting based on Spur's recent history. Conceding the first goal in six consecutive matches, Antonio Conte needs Spurs' defense to focus more but Aston Villa's results have improved since appointing Unai Emery at the start of November.
In four matches in charge, Emery's only league loss has come at the hands of Liverpool with Villa defeating Manchester United in his debut. Spurs have been in mixed form but usually have been able to claw back in the second half of matches to secure a result, but with this Villa team, going behind early may be too much to come back from.
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Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Sunday, Jan. 1 | Time: 9 a.m. ET
- Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium -- London, England
- TV: None | Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Tottenham -155; Draw +290; Aston Villa +400 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Storylines
Tottenham: Conte will get a boost to his defense as Cristian Romero has returned to the squad following winning the World Cup with Argentina. Not having featured for Tottenham since mid-October due to hamstring issues, his presence should help settle what has been an erratic defense at best this season. The game will come too soon for Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison who are still nursing injuries picked up during the World Cup but Heung Min-Son, Harry Kane, and Dejan Kulusevski should be enough to secure a result in the match.
Aston Villa: After starting Villa's match against Liverpool on the bench, Emi Martinez is expected to start following his World Cup win, improving the defense for Emery. Jacob Ramsey will miss the match but is nearing a return from his thigh injury while Diego Carlos is still sidelined until further notice.
Prediction
Despite their struggles in their last few games, in front of their home faithful, Tottenham will roll past Aston Villa as the race for top-four places gets tighter by the day. Pick: Tottenham 3, Aston Villa 1.
