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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 13
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
London, England
Sunday, 26 November 2023
Kick-off is at 15h00
Title hopefuls Tottenham will be determined to get their season back on track when they welcome Aston Villa to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, November 26.
Spurs got off to a flying start in 2023-24 as they went unbeaten in their opening 10 matches to sit at the
Premier League summit ahead of Manchester City and fierce local rivals Arsenal.
However, a shock 2-1 defeat to Wolves at Molineux was the second successive loss of Ange Postecoglou's reign after the wheels came off against Chelsea, leaving the North Londoners clinging onto fourth spot.
They trail Manchester City by two points after the league leaders were held to a 4-4 draw by Chelsea, while Liverpool (2nd) and the Gunners (3rd) both won on matchday 12 to go a point clear of them.
The Villans got back on the winning trail with a 3-1 victory over Fulham at Villa Park as they gave the perfect response to the 2-0 reverse to Nottingham Forest seven days earlier.
Unai Emery's side closed within a point of the UEFA Champions League places in fifth position, with Manchester United (6th) a further four points adrift after beating Luton 1-0 at Old Trafford.
Guglielmo Vicario has made a promising start to his Spurs career, producing some outstanding displays in his 12 top-flight appearances. The Italian goalkeeper has made 39 saves already while managing four clean sheets in the process and he kept Wolves at bay for 90 minutes behind a makeshift defence before they scored twice at the death to snatch a dramatic victory.
Image copyright: Getty Images
John McGinn appears to be flourishing under Unai Emery this season after scoring three goals already in 12 games. The Scottish midfielder has equalled his best tally in the Premier League for Villa despite only being a third into the campaign and he's on course to set a new personal record for goals scored in a season.
Postecoglou admitted some of the players ran out of steam in the closing stages due to a lack of match fitness as they filled the void left by injuries and suspensions, which Wanderers capitalised on to full effect.
"Obviously, it's a hard one to take right at the end. The lads gave everything they could. We probably ran out of legs towards the end. Wolves were always going to come at us and scored a couple of good goals, to be fair to them. So, yes, disappointing for us to concede so late," he said.
"I've had a chat to the players and it's not a question of effort and commitment, like I said, quite a lot of them haven't played for a while, so it's a big shift playing here, away from home, with the kind of team they are.
"I can't fault that. At the same time, we'll take the pain of this to go back, work harder and come back stronger."
Villa have won just two of their opening six matches on the road and Emery insists they need to improve away from home, starting with the trip to the capital.
"We are trying to keep the balance when we are playing away. Always playing away is more difficult and we are feeling it," the Spaniard said.
"We can improve in the matches we are playing away and we have to take the challenge in the next match we are playing away against Tottenham."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Tottenham - 2
Aston Villa - 3
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 13 fixtures:
Saturday, November 25
13h30: Manchester City v Liverpool
16h00: Burnley v West Ham United
16h00: Luton Town v Crystal Palace
16h00: Newcastle United v Chelsea
16h00: Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h00: Sheffield United v Bournemouth
18h30: Brentford v Arsenal
Sunday, November 26
15h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
17h30: Everton v Manchester United
Monday, November 27
21h00: Fulham v Wolverhampton Wanderers
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