It was this time last year when the injuries started to pile up for Postecoglou’s Tottenham team. Losing both Micky van de Ven and Maddison in the 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, the Dutchman had to watch on from the sidelines 12 months on for the visit of Aston Villa.
Losing Van de Ven in the opening stages of the Manchester City game during the week, Spurs also saw Cristian Romero come off in the second half of the Carabao Cup tie. The World Cup winner was again to make way against Aston Villa, this time on 61 minutes following a challenge on Rogers.
There was to be further bad news for Postecoglou and Spurs in the last ten minutes as Richarlison, who had only just returned from injury recently, was forced off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue. The Brazilian pulled up immediately after teeing Solanke up for his second of the afternoon and something seemed off as he leaned over the advertising boards before his teammates came over to join him.
It was his last action in the fixture as Maddison came on to replace him and help see the game out. Going on all the injuries Spurs occurred this time 12 months ago, Postecoglou will be praying for some positive news on the injury front this time around.
It probably came as no surprise to home fans that it was Aston Villa who opened the scoring in the 2pm kick-off. After all, Tottenham have this habit of conceding first at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in league fixtures.
In 14 Premier League fixtures at home in 2024, Spurs have shipped the opening goal on 12 occasions. Aston Villa, West Ham, Brentford and Arsenal have all scored first in N17 this term, with Everton the only team not to do likewise in the league.
While Spurs did come from behind to beat Aston Villa, West Ham and Brentford, their tendency to go behind is giving them an uphill challenge in matches and it is something they really need to put an end to
Tottenham ensured it was a week to remember after recording a resounding 4-1 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. Coming into the game on the back of defeating Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, Ange Postecoglou made three changes to his Tottenham XI to take on Unai Emery’s team.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium in the opening stages of the contest, with Rodrigo Bentancur not that far away from testing Emi Martinez with a dipping effort that landed on the roof of the net. Despite the hosts creating the better openings, Villa opened the scoring on 32 minutes courtesy of Morgan Rogers’ finish from point-blank range.
Tottenham restored parity on 49 minutes with a trademark Brennan Johnson finish at the back post following such an inviting cross from the returning Son Heung-min. The hosts were very close to going ahead a couple of minutes later as Dominic Solanke forced Martinez into a low save with the ball destined to go in.
Solanke was to get his goal 15 minutes from time with a cute dinked finish over Martinez after an incredible reverse ball from Dejan Kulusevski to play him in. It was to then get even better for the summer addition as he put the game out of sight in the 79th minute after tapping home Richarlison’s cross from close range
There was still time for Tottenham to net a fourth goal of the contest as James Maddison came off the bench to score direct from a free-kick in stoppage time. Here are five things we spotted in the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
