TOTTENHAM will be looking to continue their charge towards the top-four of the Premier League when they travel to relegation-threatened Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
A sense of optimism has returned to north London following a Jose Mourinho masterclass against Man City a fortnight ago – a much-needed shot in the arm for Spurs' season.
The Lilywhites followed up that success by staging a last-gasp comeback against Southampton to secure a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup before entering the Winter break.
In fact, the capital club are undefeated in their last six fixtures across all competitions, however, Tottenham have only triumphed in two of their 12 Premier League road trips this term.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa are hovering precariously above the drop zone following a 2-1 defeat in a relegation six-pointer away at Bournemouth last time out.
Indeed, Villa have reached the Carabao Cup Final, however, the Claret and Blue have struggled for consistency in the league having won only three of their last 12 top-flight outings.
The Betting Odds
Aston Villa are unfancied 3/1 with Bet 365 to record back-to-back home wins in the Premier League for the first time this season, while a share of the spoils pays 14/5 with the same firm.
Tottenham have won 10 of their last 11 matches against Aston Villa and another Spurs success on Sunday is priced at 17/20 with Bet 365
The Betting Angles
Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish is leading his sides fight for survival and I like the look of the 4/5 (PaddyPower) on offer for the Villa talisman to have at least one shot on target against Tottenham.
Grealish is averaging just over one shot per game in the Premier League this season and the Villa playmaker has the tools to trouble a Tottenham rearguard who have only registered four shutouts in 25 league games thus far.
However, Villa are also defensively vulnerable – Dean Smith's men have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last nine matches and such defensive frailty does not bode well ahead of a showdown with a superior Spurs side.
With Spurs starting to find form and the hosts routinely leaking goals, Villa will be hard tasked when trying to prevent the Londoners from making the net bulge in the Midlands this weekend.
There is no value in backing Spurs to score, however, combining a goal for the visitors with two or more Aston Villa cards is a lot more appealing at 10/11 with Bet 365.
Smith tends to set up his sides to attack, however, Villa's expansive style can often leave them exposed at the other end of the park, which in turn could lead to the home side committing cynical fouls – something that is feasible on Sunday given the amount of flair and pace that Spurs possess.
However, given Spurs sustained bout of travel sickness, coupled with their ropey rearguard, I do fancy Villa to get on the scoresheet here, not to mention the Villains have scored in 11 of their 12 home games in the league to date.
Backing both teams to score looks slightly short at 8/13 with Bet 365, however, adding over 2.5 match goals by utilizing Bet 365's Bet Builder will boost those odds up to a much more enticing 21/20 (Bet 365)
Aston Villa have grabbed a consolation goal in 10 of their 14 defeats this term and three of Spurs' last six fixtures have seen over 2.5 match goals scored.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Tottenham will be played on Feb 16, 2020 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Tottenham prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.