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“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.
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