Tottenham beat Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park to move out of the relegation zone.
The relegation battle took another twist over the weekend, as West Ham were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Brentford on Saturday, leaving Tottenham Hotspur knowing that a win would be enough to take them out of the drop zone when they travelled to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Spurs rocked up to Villa Park and beat Aston Villa 2-1, with Roberto De Zerbi’s men taking advantage of a heavily rotated side put out by Unai Emery. The Tottenham players repaid De Zerbi’s passionate cry ‘to die’ on the pitch in the remaining games, demonstrating they are all unified and up for the fight. In the process, they picked up their second win in a row and moved out of the relegation zone.
Many experienced players stepped up against Aston Villa, amid the club’s injury crisis, but there were some potential fresh injury concerns for the North Londoners.
Roberto De Zerbi provides an update on Tottenham duo after Aston Villa victory
The current scenario leaves Tottenham with a handful of matches remaining to secure their future in the top flight. De Zerbi has managed to lift the spirits and instil confidence in the players, showing that he is the right man for the job.
While the victory at Villa came as a huge boost in their survival bid, Spurs also suffered a couple of injury scares. Rodrigo Bentancur and Micky van de Ven were two of Tottenham’s best players at Villa Park. The Uruguayan midfielder was forced off in the 67th minute, while the Netherlands international appeared to have rolled his ankle in the dying embers of the game.
In his post-match press conference, De Zerbi gave injury updates on Rodrigo Bentancur and Micky van de Ven (h/t The Standard).
“No, no, no. He’s ok,” De Zerbi said about Van de Ven.
“Yes, yes, Bentancur was just tired,” the Tottenham boss added.
Huge relief for Tottenham fans
Bentancur has been fantastic since returning from a hamstring injury in April. He has been the calming influence in midfield, controlling and building up moves from a deeper role. The Uruguayan has been among Spurs’ best players across the last three games, proving to be a good fit in De Zerbi’s system.
Van de Ven, meanwhile, has led the side well in skipper Cristian Romero’s injury absence under De Zerbi. The Dutchman has shown maturity and leadership skills, building a strong partnership with Kevin Danso in defence.
It is a huge relief for the Tottenham fans that Bentancur and Van de Ven have not suffered any injury problems and should be available to face Leeds United next week.