Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2011-11-21 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
Football: English Premier League
Monday 21 November 2011 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Redknapp looks set to return to the bench for Tottenham Hotspur having missed their last game after undergoing minor heart surgery. Redknapp has been cleared to return and will be hoping his side put in another gritty display as they look to continue their fine form of the last couple of months.

Tottenham are 5th in the Premier League having gained 22 points from their opening 10 games this season, a tally that sees them just 9 points behind Manchester City at the top of the table having played a game less. That is all the more impressive considering they were battered in their first 2 games of the season by both Manchester clubs. Spurs are 3-0-1 at home this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding 7, although 5 of those came in one game against City.

The team have lost just 1 of their last 13 games in all competitions since the 1-5 loss here to City, and it shows the depth of talent and belief this squad of players have that they have bounced back from their opening defeats in this manner. Spurs have won 7 of their last 8 Premier League games, the only exception being a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United. They have won 5 consecutive games at White Hart Lane in all competitions.

Rafael Van der Vaart suffered a slight hamstring injury while on international duty with Holland, but he missed the last game as a precaution and looks set to play his part in this one. Michael Dawson and Tom Huddlestone are out, but the two week break has reinforced the squad as William Gallas, Vedrun Corluka and Steven Pienaar are all back for selection.

Aston Villa

Alex McLeish will have been happy to see his side pick up another 3 points in their final game before the two week break from League action as he continues to try and gain the full backing of the supporters. McLeish has had a harder time than most would have considering he came in from Birmingham City, but there are some good signs developing at Villa Park.

The win over Norwich last time out has moved Villa up to 8th in the Premier League, although there already is a 4 point gap between them and the top 7. A lot of that is down to the fact they are 0-4-1 away from home this season, scoring 6 goals and conceding 9, and you have to imagine they are looking to start turning some of the draws to wins. More than half of Villa's League games have ended up in stalemates this season.

There had been a few murmurings of discontent amongst the supporters in recent games, as the win last time out was only the 2nd in the last 10 games in all competitions. Half of those games had ended in draws, but the team also suffered a disappointing exit in the Carling Cup. Villa have conceded at least 2 goals in 3 of their last 4 away games in the Premier League, although they have scored in every one of those games and only lost once.

Gabby Agbonlahor has been in fine form this season, earning an England recall too, and he should be passed fit to play in this game despite withdrawing from the England squad. Stiliyan Petrov should also recover from a knock in time, but Jermaine Jenas cannot play against his parent club.

Head to Head

Tottenham did the double over Aston Villa last season, winning both games 2-1.

The win at White Hart Lane was their first over Villa since 2006- Spurs had drawn 2 and lost 1 in their previous 3 home games against Villa.

9 of the last 10 games between the teams has seen both sides get on the scoresheet.

Prediction

This should be a fairly good game of football to watch if their previous games are anything to go by, and it is one that I think Tottenham Hotspur could win if they can pick up from where they left off before the international break.

Aston Villa have been set up in a manner reminiscent of Alex McLeish's Birmingham side, especially away from home, and that makes them tough to break down. However, they have not quite got it down to a tee at the moment judging by the goals they have been conceding and that could be a problem against a Spurs team that has plenty of attacking potential in their midfield and attack.

Tottenham have been scoring goals for fun of late and I think that could be rewarded again this weekend against a team that has conceded twice to teams like Everton and Sunderland, teams that don't have the attacking talent this Spurs side does.

I was close to taking Spurs to win this game on the English Handicap at 2.40, but their recent head to head record has put me off a little and instead I will back the home side on the Asian Handicap in the knowledge that a one goal win would at least return stakes.

Spurs should be good enough to beat Villa again, and I feel their defence has been bolstered by the return of more bodies. Brad Friedal will also look to have a big game against his former club, and I just feel Spurs will do enough to win this game by a couple of goals.

The Statistics :

TOTTENHAM LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-10-30	W	3-1	H v QPR
	2011-10-02	W	2-1	H v Arsenal
	2011-09-18	W	4-0	H v Liverpool
	2011-08-28	L	1-5	H v Man_City
	2011-05-22	W	2-1	H v Birmingham
	2011-05-07	D	1-1	H v Blackpool

ASTON_VILLA LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-10-29	D	2-2	A v Sunderland
	2011-10-15	L	4-1	A v Man_City
	2011-09-25	D	1-1	A v QPR
	2011-09-10	D	2-2	A v Everton
	2011-08-13	D	0-0	A v Fulham
	2011-05-15	W	1-2	A v Arsenal

HEAD TO HEAD TOTTENHAM v ASTON_VILLA
DATE	HOME	SCORE	AWAY
2010-10-02	Tottenham	2-1	Aston_Villa
2010-02-06	Tottenham	0-0	Aston_Villa
2008-09-15	Tottenham	1-2	Aston_Villa
2007-10-01	Tottenham	4-4	Aston_Villa
2006-12-26	Tottenham	2-1	Aston_Villa
2006-01-21	Tottenham	0-0	Aston_Villa