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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 28
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur
Villa Park
Birmingham, England
Sunday, 10 March 2024
Kick-off is at 15h00
The battle for fourth place in the
Premier League could well be decided when Aston Villa and Tottenham go head to head at Villa Park on Sunday, March 10.
The Villans currently occupy the final UEFA Champions League place after they beat Luton 3-2 at Kenilworth Road on March 2 to maintain the five-point gap to Spurs.
It was Villa's fourth win in five matches as they look to qualify for Europe's elite club competition for the first time since 1982-83, having won the European Cup the previous season.
Ange Postecoglou's side have a game in hand on the West Midlands giants and returned to winning ways on March 2 as they triumphed 3-1 against Crystal Palace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to go six points clear of Manchester United (6th).
The Red Devils saw their top-four hopes suffer another damaging blow with a 3-1 defeat to neighbours Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on March 3.
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In team news, Villa head coach Unai Emery continues to be without Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings (all knee) and Diego Carlos (thigh), although Jhon Duran could come back into contention after missing the last six games. Ryan Sessegnon (thigh), Fraser Forster (ankle), Richarlison and Manor Solomon (both knee) are unavailable to Postecoglou, who could welcome back Pedro Porro.
Emery was pleased with the effort his players put in to go 2-0 up in the first half as he expected the Hatters to fight back in the second 45 minutes at a difficult ground for the opposition.
"I'm very happy and very proud of our players, our club and our supporters who were here with us, supporting us and trying to push us," the Spaniard said.
"The first half was fantastic and we really deserved two goals like we did and we created chances to get more. We didn't concede a lot of chances to get into our box.
"The second half was completely different, but we were aware of the possibility to struggle more in the second half like we did because they usually push a lot here, even when they are losing two or three nil."
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Postecoglou hailed an "outstanding" reaction from his players against Palace after going behind to Eberechi Eze's 59th-minute opener, having seen their patience rewarded with three goals from Timo Werner (77'), Cristian Romero (80') and Son Heung-Min(88').
"It was a difficult game for us. They sat very deep, and we had to be patient. I felt like we were working them, making them work and we know we're not going to stop until the 100th minute," he said.
"I felt at some point they would break. A goal would have helped that process and we had a couple of chances in the first half to do that. I still felt we were really disciplined in our approach and some of our football was making them work hard enough, which we needed to do.
"Obviously, when you then concede, that was disappointing, but it was the only time they really got into our half. Then, you're looking for a reaction, and the reaction was outstanding. What I did know is as long as we persisted and kept our belief, we would score. I really believed that."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Aston Villa wins - 3
Tottenham wins - 2
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 28 fixtures:
Saturday, March 9
14h30: Manchester United v Everton
17h00: Bournemouth v Sheffield United
17h00: Crystal Palace v Luton Town
17h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Fulham
19h30: Arsenal v Brentford
Sunday, March 10
15h00: Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur
16h00: Brighton & Hove Albion v Nottingham Forest
16h00: West Ham United v Burnley
17h45: Liverpool v Manchester City
Monday, March 11
22h00: Chelsea v Newcastle United
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