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This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Aston Villa

Premier       Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home           7   3   2   2    9 - 8  11
Away           7   0   2   5    5 -12   2
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Total (Prem)  14   3   4   7   14 -20  13
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  47  25   6  16   99 -77  62
Away (Div 1)  47  17  11  19   72 -75  48
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Total (Div 1) 94  42  17  35   171-152 110
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Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   2   1   1   0    4 -3    3
Away (Div 2)   2   0   1   1    1 -3    1
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Total (Div 2)  4   1   2   1    5 -6    4
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Total (Prem)  14   3   4   7   14 -20  13
Total (Div 1) 94  42  17  35   171-152 110
Total (Div 2)  4   1   2   1    5 -6    4
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Grand Total  112  46  23  43   190-178 127
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Last season, Spurs played Aston Villa at Villa Park in November 1998. At that time, Villa were riding high in the Premier League and threatening to make a challenge to the championship. Villa won 3-2 on the day but not before we gave them a fright. They took the lead in the 30th minute when we failed to clear a corner and Dublin fired the home side ahead. Four minutes later, a misunderstanding in defence allowed Villa to go 2-0 ahead as Dublin was left completely unmarked, enabling him to score his second goal. Stan Collymore later added a third. Anderton pulled one back when taking a penalty in the 64th minute after Ginola had been fouled by Ehiogu. Twelve minutes later, Vega forced the ball home after Scales had set him up. Allen failed to score an equaliser in the dying seconds.

For the return game, we won 1-0 in March, a few days before we beat Barnsley in the FA Cup Quarter-Final. Our goal was scored by Tim Sherwood.

In the previous season, Villa had been the third team to visit White Hart Lane last season. We had lost our first two matches, at home to Manchester United and away to West Ham United before winning at home against Derby County. We beat Villa 3-2 thanks to two goals by Les Ferdinand and one from Ruel Fox. The corresponding away game had seen us crash 4-1 at Villa Park in a game televised by Sky. Draper opened the scoring for Villa but Calderwood, who left us for Villa last season, equalised. We then fell apart as Collymore scored twice and Draper added a second to complete the rout.

It is difficult to imagine that this time last year Aston Villa were riding high in the Premier League. Their problems can be dated from the day that Fulham, then managed by Kevin Keegan, went to Villa Park and beat Villa, 2-0. I remember watching the highlights of that tie. Villa did not appear as if they particularly wanted to play and it was noticeable that Collymore was completely out of sorts. Subsequently, Collymore fell out with Villa manager John Gregory, who has been desperately trying to offload Collymore to anyone who will have him. The stumbling block appears to be the kind of wages that Collymore thinks he is entitled to demand. There is a persistent rumour that a French club, Montpelier, are currently trying to negotiate a deal with him. Certainly it is difficult to think of any British club who would risk dressing room morale being infected by such an awkward and cussed character as Collymore.

One of the most surprising transfer deals of recent years was Villa's decision to buy Colin Calderwood from Tottenham. Considering he is coming to the end of his career, I found it amazing that John Gregory considered him a good investment. I had never liked Calderwood and as soon as I heard the news I fell about laughing and emailed a Villa pen-pal of mine about it. I gather that Calderwood is out of favour at Villa now that Ehiogu has recovered full fitness after a long absence through injury.

Spurs' victory over Watford was welcome following our 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle last Wednesday. But it does not provide a yardstick to measure against since Watford are clearly one of the worst sides ever to appear in the top flight. Since Sheffield Wednesday are showing signs of getting their act together, I think we will see Watford propping up the foot of the table before much longer.

So how will we get on at Villa Park tomorrow night? There was a time when we always seemed to win at Villa Park but these days we tend to lose more than we win. Or does it just feel like that? We have to go right back to the opening game of season 1986-87 to find the last occasion Spurs won at Villa Park in a League match. Clive Allen scored all three goals in our 3-0 home win. Since the Premier League was set up, we have only recorded two draws at Villa Park.

Much will depend on whether Villa believe they have to scrap for the points or not. Their attention, like Tottenham's, tends to waver at crucial moments. The most recent addition to their playing staff, Benito Carbone, seems to have added a dimension of skill to their midfield. Paul Merson seems to be peripheral and rarely starts a game these days. It looks as if he is making the same mistakes that he made at Highbury when he fell out with George Graham. I hear that Merson has been critical of the regime at Villa Park.

So, will we win or not? Logic suggests we will not but it is so long since we last won there that we are overdue for a victory. Now that Stephen Carr has returned to the team, there will be a better balance to the side with players more or less playing in their preferred positions rather than 'filling' in for absentees. If we do win, it will only be by a single goal. If we lose, I suspect we may have another thrashing since our confidence in recent weeks has been fragile. A draw is probably the most likely outcome since Villa are lacking in confidence as much as we are and have most of the problems we have (virtually no strike force, a porous defence and a dodgy goalkeeper).

Cheers, Brian

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