ASTON VILLA vs TOTTENHAM - MATCH PREVIEW

By Ryan Ghee
September 17 2005

Aston Villa players will be hoping to put Monday night's horrendous performance to the back of their minds as they try to get their season back on track with a win against Martin Jol's Tottenham Hotspur.

Aston Villa team news: David O'Leary will be without Gavin McCann for this evening's match as he underwent keyhole surgery yesterday on his injured knee. Lee Hendrie is back from suspension so could start in McCann's place but Djemba-Djemba is also pushing for a starting role. James Milner and Wilfred Bouma are expected to make their home debuts but injury-prone Martin Laursen will miss out due to a long-term knee problem.

Tottenham team news: Egyptian striker Mido is suspended following his red card against Chelsea so new signing Grzegorz Rasiak should start upfront. Noe Pamarot and Michael Dawson are both ruled out of the match while Edgar Davids will undergo a late fitness test before a decision is made as to whether he will feature.

History of this fixture: Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have played each other 139 times with The Villans victorious on 53 occasions. Spurs have won 58 of the games with the remaining 28 matches ending in a draw. Last season's corresponding fixture ended in a 1-0 victory for Villa but the return match at White Harte Lane saw Tottenham thrash their opponents 5-1.

Match betting: Aston Villa win - 6/4
Tottenham win - 6/4
Draw - 11/5