Tottenham face a must-win clash against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur are in dire straits as they face the real possibility of relegation from the Premier League this season. They finally grabbed their first Premier League win of 2026 by beating Wolves 1-0 at Molineux last weekend.
The Lilywhites must now aim to build on the victory at Wolves on Sunday when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa. With the winning drought finally over, the hopes are that Spurs can travel back to the Midlands and repeat this feat. The pressure will be on Roberto de Zerbi to help Tottenham secure back-to-back wins, although he will have to make do without two key players, Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke.
The Italian tactician remains confident about his club’s prospects of staying in the Premier League. He will be hoping for a strong start as Tottenham prepares to face Unai Emery’s men at Villa Park.
Paul Merson delivers prediction for Aston Villa vs. Tottenham
De Zerbi has urged his players “to die” on the pitch in the remaining four fixtures, starting with Villa. The 46-year-old needs to get his approach right, while the players must show commitment, unity and fight for the badge. Anything less than three points could damage Spurs’ survival hopes and deepen the crisis at N17.
Villa, on the other hand, are fighting to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Their Premier League form has been up and down of late. Emery’s side head into this fixture on the back of a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of the Europa League semi-finals to arch-rivals Nottingham Forest.
Despite that, Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted a difficult outing for Spurs this weekend. The former Arsenal star feels that the injuries to Simons and Solanke have severely weakened De Zerbi’s squad, and Villa’s defeat to Fulham last weekend could have an impact on Sunday’s fixture. In his exclusive column for Sportskeeda, he has predicted a 2-0 loss for De Zerbi’s Tottenham:
“Tottenham will be kicking themselves that Aston Villa did not beat Fulham last weekend. If Villa won that game, they would just take the gas off the pedal in this game, with their Europa League semi-final coming up.
“But now, if Brighton win this weekend, their gap with Villa will be down to five points, which makes this a must-win game for Unai Emery’s side.
“If you told me I should take two players off the Tottenham team for this game, Xavi Simons and Dom Solanke would be my last choices. Both of them are out of this game! How are Spurs even going to win against Villa without them?
“If West Ham loses to Brentford this weekend, this game is a free swing for Tottenham. But if they win, the pressure will be on Spurs. Tottenham will hope West Ham don’t win. Next weekend, the Hammers face Arsenal while Spurs have Leeds at home. So, in a week’s time, it could all turn around in favour of Tottenham.
“The team that will stay up in the Premier League this season will be the one that produces a ‘wow’ result from now until the end of the season. We saw that with West Ham last weekend, when Callum Wilson scored the late winner against Everton. They need one more win like that, and I expect them to have a stronger chance of winning this weekend than Tottenham.”
Spurs have to beat Villa to stay alive in the relegation battle
Villa have got the better of Tottenham on two occasions already this season. The Villans have been strong at home and will be raring to bounce back from back-to-back defeats. Merson also pointed out that Tottenham must produce a ‘wow’ result to stay up, and Sunday allows them to do that.
Tottenham fans will be hoping that the players rise to the occasion and secure a crucial victory against a well-drilled Villa side. Villa Park is known for its intense atmosphere, making it a challenging venue for any team. De Zerbi’s men must deliver a disciplined and determined performance if they are to keep their survival hopes alive.
Whether the North Londoners can secure back-to-back wins remains to be seen.