Aston Villa v Tottenham: Key stats and talking points

Two teams with vastly different objectives at the business end of the season will clash in the unusual Sunday evening slot (19:00 BST) when Aston Villa welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the West Midlands.

Villa, off the back of a 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday, are aiming to get back into the Champions League via their Premier League position, lest they fall short of winning the continent's second-tier club competition.

Presently, they are poised to do just that, sitting fifth, eight points clear of Brighton. There is a worry, however, that the Villans may have peaked too early when they won eight league games on the trot in November and December.

Unai Emery's side have won just two of their past seven in the league, losing four – as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 24 top-flight matches.

Ollie on the up

Leading scorer Ollie Watkins has six goals in his past seven matches, a welcome return to form after netting just three in 16 during a challenging start to 2026.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that his good run started after 20 March, when he wasn't named in Thomas Tuchel's England squad for that month's friendlies.

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Indeed, he has scored goals in three previous Premier League games against sides managed by Roberto de Zerbi, including a hat-trick against Brighton in September 2023.

One place he has not scored from this season, however, is the penalty spot. Villa and, coincidentally, Spurs are the only two sides in the division not to have been awarded a spot-kick this term.

Roberto's rallying cry

Tottenham are aiming to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time since the opening eight days of the season.

Having ended their 16-game domestic winless streak with victory over relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, De Zerbi's side must aim for the same again on Sunday.

Spurs are teetering on the brink. They sit 18th, two points adrift of West Ham United, and the prospect of Championship football is looming increasingly large unless they get their act together.

De Zerbi, appointed at the end of March, said before Saturday's win at Molineux: "This team is able to win five games in a row." It's a bold statement given the Lilywhites have won just eight of their 34 matches so far.

It is one down, four to go, if this injury-stricken Spurs squad is to meet the Italian coach's target. No team has ever been in the relegation zone with five matches of a Premier League season to play and won them all.

There are, however, 18 examples of such a team winning three of their last five games (and five instances of a team winning four games), which should give hope to those currently suffering in north London.

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A point would be more useful to the hosts than the visitors, but recent history suggests honours are unlikely to finish even in this fixture. None of the past 21 league meetings between Villa (seven wins) and Spurs (14) have ended level.