Tottenham vs Aston Villa

Minute-by-minute report: Will Tottenham start 2023 with victory over Aston Villa? Join Will Unwin to find out.

We have, in theory, a re-run of the World Cup final with Hugo Lloris in one goal and Emi Martinez down the other end trying to control his urge to sexualise his goalkeeper gloves. It is a nice idea but at some point he will regress, so he should just cut back on the sugar or something. It is a big game, we are going to stick to our game plan. I would argue Villa have the better pre-match jacket but I am open to persuasion. “Even before World Cup it became clear Arsenal will finish ahead and to be honest, it hurts but it is what it is. Watkins and Bissouma go for the same ball on the edge of the Villa box. 16 mins: Doherty chests down a crossfield pass but runs straight into Digne, causing the Spurs man to go down. A ball is played over for Perisic to latch onto; he forces Olsen out of his net and crosses to Kane at the back post to nod at the goalkeeper-less goal, only for Young to dive to his right to head clear. 20 mins: Son runs back and makes a tackle after losing the ball. Romero is back (and in the book). 49 mins: It is all Spurs in the opening few minutes. They seem quite happy to let Spurs have possession and pass the ball side to side.

Before the game, to a huge ovation, Cristian Romero received a trophy from his fellow Tottenham World Cup winner, Osvaldo Ardiles. These Argentina celebrations ...

"They're one of the best teams in the world. They go to Tottenham on New Year's Day sitting 12th in the table after a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Boxing Day. The Argentine may well, like a few of us today, still be feeling the effects of possible excessive celebrations meaning Robin Olsen starts in an XI unchanged from the Boxing Day defeat to Liverpool. We have in our team and our squad a winner of a World Cup. "It still feels like we're in a good place. First chance of the match falls to Ollie Watkins - it's a chance of his own making as he breaks the offside trap and cuts in off the left. "The season is so long. The other change is Bryan Gil in for Dejan Kulusevski. But he has to know very well that now starts the more difficult period for him because the expectation is going to become high for him. When he comes back we have to try to introduce him again into our everyday and to be positive to use his energy to help us. The match needs an injection of somethings called creativity and entertainment. He has to work much more and continue to work, especially don’t lose the desire to improve himself.”

Tottenham will need to start much better when they host Aston Villa in north London on Sunday, as the hellacious top-four battle rages on.

(AE) Per the report both Werner and De Ligt are up for the move, with the Dutch center back set to be the new center-piece of Thomas Tuchel’s defense, while Werner is keen for a fresh start in Italy as his goalscoring woes in the Premier League continue. (JPW) What a move this would be for a Chelsea team already loaded with attackers, just the latest sign that no one besides (probably) Kai Havertz and Mason Mount are safe in their status with Thomas Tuchel’s Blues. This time around, Lukaku scored 15 goals in 44 appearances (all competitions – 8 in 26 in the Premier League), bringing his Chelsea career total to 15 goals. The American goalkeeper has a very bright future and this is a good move for him to enter the European market and have a huge club like Chelsea handling his development. His quality is clear for all to see and he would slot in well to the 3-4-2-1 system and is very comfortable on the ball and coming out of the back to start attacks. The focus at Chelsea will likely now be on selling players and they will have to move on a lot of fringe players to offset this huge spending spree. As for De Jong, well, Chelsea’s priority is to sign a center back but with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante coming towards the twilight of their careers, De Jong is a very similar player and would slot in very nicely to safeguard the future of Chelsea’s midfield. It is reported (below) that Chelsea will pay the Norwegian side $12.7 million for Fofana. According to The Athletic, the Everton academy product has told Frank Lampard and the Everton board he wants to move to Chelsea to play in the Champions League and push for a place in the England squad. Aston Villa, meanwhile, returned from the World Cup break with a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool for the first Premier League setback of the Unai Emery era (2W-0D-1L).

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa. Premier League. 2:00pm, Sunday 1st January 2023. Tottenham Hotspur StadiumAttendance: ...

The goalkeeper as well, after this clean sheet and with his performance, which helps us to believe in our goalkeepers, not only in Martinez, as well with Robby. Today we needed defensively to be strong, together and try to arrive in some moments. They didn't feel they deserved to be 1-0 down after a big effort in the first half. We are not so lucky with the goals we are conceding in this period. We had only one, Watkins' action in the first 15 minutes. And then you can pay something emotionally." I think today is OK to add the confidence in the team." "But in the second half we kept with our plan, and we scored one goal and that gave us confidence to keep moving ahead in our mentality, to our defence, and when we have option to have ball possession and then attack. "To score the second goal was amazing because in that moment we were thinking the match and three points was for us. "We have to build a team thinking we can control the match, sometimes with ball and sometimes without the ball. The Brazilian is relishing greater attacking licence under Unai Emery. "Then in the second half, we started in the same way and then it happened that we conceded another goal.

Tottenham Hotspur passed up the chance to move back into the Premier League top four as Aston Villa claimed a deserved 2-0 win in north London.

Ollie Watkins - A menace throughout for the Tottenham defence and deserved his assist for the opening goal. Leon Bailey - A frustrating afternoon with Bailey unable to use his speed to good effect to trouble the Tottenham back line. Emi Buendia - Assured side-footed finish for the opener after Watkins had the presence of mind to pick him out in the box. Douglas Luiz - Another contender for the game's best player with his goal and also his initial role in the opener when his speculative shot was fumbled by Lloris. Just the kind of player Villa need to get results against the 'top six' teams. Ezri Konsa - Dealt with the aerial danger when called upon and kept Tottenham at bay when they looked likely to breach the defensive line. Has many questions to answer if Spurs are to rediscover their winning form early in the campaign and make the top four. Heung-min Son - Ripped off the face mask that is protecting his fractured eye socket early on but it made no difference to his game as he struggled to make an impact in a muted Spurs attack. His nutmeg of Tyrone Mings was the highlight of his afternoon. Ben Davies - Nobody in the Spurs back line covered themselves in glory when it came down to the decisive moments and Davies was no exception. Cristian Romero - Walked the disciplinary tightrope after a 28th minute booking on his return to Tottenham action following Argentina's World Cup win. Hugo Lloris - Not an afternoon to remember as he fumbled a speculative effort by Douglas Luiz from distance, allowing Ollie Watkins to pounce and tee up Emi Buendia for the opener.

Aston Villa stunned Tottenham on New Year's Day as Antonio Conte's sluggish side were deservedly beaten at home as their top four push continues to falter.

(AE) Per the report both Werner and De Ligt are up for the move, with the Dutch center back set to be the new center-piece of Thomas Tuchel’s defense, while Werner is keen for a fresh start in Italy as his goalscoring woes in the Premier League continue. (JPW) What a move this would be for a Chelsea team already loaded with attackers, just the latest sign that no one besides (probably) Kai Havertz and Mason Mount are safe in their status with Thomas Tuchel’s Blues. This time around, Lukaku scored 15 goals in 44 appearances (all competitions – 8 in 26 in the Premier League), bringing his Chelsea career total to 15 goals. The American goalkeeper has a very bright future and this is a good move for him to enter the European market and have a huge club like Chelsea handling his development. His quality is clear for all to see and he would slot in well to the 3-4-2-1 system and is very comfortable on the ball and coming out of the back to start attacks. The focus at Chelsea will likely now be on selling players and they will have to move on a lot of fringe players to offset this huge spending spree. As for De Jong, well, Chelsea’s priority is to sign a center back but with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante coming towards the twilight of their careers, De Jong is a very similar player and would slot in very nicely to safeguard the future of Chelsea’s midfield. It is reported (below) that Chelsea will pay the Norwegian side $12.7 million for Fofana. According to The Athletic, the Everton academy product has told Frank Lampard and the Everton board he wants to move to Chelsea to play in the Champions League and push for a place in the England squad. Aston Villa, meanwhile, returned from the World Cup break with a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool for the first Premier League setback of the Unai Emery era (2W-0D-1L).

Here are our Tottenham Hotspur player ratings after their 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League on New Year's Day.

Had a big chance in the first half to set up Kane for a clear effort on goal but overhit the pass. Didn't touch the ball for a long time in the first half until he got a chance with a header cleared off the line by Young. Spurs used him a lot down the left and he had a big chance in the second half that he sliced over. Off the pace at times and picked up a fifth yellow card of the season after labouring to get back and making a late lunge, which means he'll miss the match at Palace in midweek. Had a lovely link-up with Gil early in the first half before nutmegging Mings in the Villa box only for his shot to be deflected away from goal. Back in the starting line-up, the captain had nothing to do until early in the second half when he spilled Luiz's shot and Watkins teed up Buendia to score.