Spurs at Villa Park, a video from Spurs and why Spurs are not the same Club

So, it seems like we just had international break, but it wasn't and no doubt there will be one coming up. Before that though, we have Spurs at Villa Park on Sunday and I've got a good feeling.

But I always have these feelings when in need of three points. I'm the overly optimistic, blind faith following fool that always believes we have a chance against whatever side we're playing. But we do on Sunday.

I even believe right now that we can win the League Cup. And that leads me to an interesting conversation I was having with someone over Slack the other. I was asked if I would take silverware if meant going down. I said yes. Obviously I don't want us to get relegated, but football is about winning silverware.

He took it one step further and offered Premier League survival today, but we had to lose against Manchester City. And sure, staying in the Premier League is obviously what we all want and we want to kick on, but who can honestly say they've enjoyed this season more than the last one?

We've won seven games and lost twice as many. It's not nice. Silverware every day of the week for me. But the post today is about Spurs.

And because our Club have decided to create their own version of YouTube the video below is from Spurs and it's a near 20 minute pre-match video of Jose Mourinho. And he is the reason why it is possible for us to win and it's because we know there are only two ways his Clubs play, it gives us a chance. It's up to the players to take it.

Spurs under Mourinho are never going to be the Spurs they could have been under Poch. Mourinho needs money to win the League, just like I'd need money to win the League. He's probably not going to be the manager this time next season and we all know why. He'll spend money in the summer and it wont work out and he'll turn against some of the players and the media.

It's the Mourinho way. And this isn't to say we will win. We are a long way from where we need to be and we're not playing the type of football that really inspires confidence, but there is a chance and while not all things point to a win for us, I revert to my optimism. We need to win tomorrow or we could find ourselves in real trouble and with the League Cup final coming up, we need to start finding our football soon.

I'm optimistic that the thing I read about Dean Smith sides getting better towards the end of the season is true and I'm hoping that the thing I'm starting to believe about it having nothing to do with Dean Smith at Brentford and more about the Club buying the players for specific positions and the Club playing a formation that was good for those players isn't true.

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

  • Tottenham are unbeaten in their past eight league visits to Villa Park, winning the last four in a row. Villa haven't beaten Spurs at home since January 2008.
  • Villa's only win in the last 16 Premier League meetings was 1-0 at White Hart Lane in April 2015.

Aston Villa

  • Dean Smith's side have only earned one point against sides currently in the top half of the table, in a 2-2 draw at Manchester United in December.
  • They are vying to win consecutive Premier League home matches for the first time since May 2015.
  • Aston Villa's seven Premier League victories this season have come on six different days of the week, with Sunday the exception. They could become just the second team in English top-flight history to win a league game on all seven days of the week within the same season, emulating Spurs in 1986-87.
  • Villa have faced 441 shots this season, more than any other Premier League side. Their record of 17.6 shots faced per game is their highest in a single campaign in the competition since such records were started in the 2003-04 season.
  • Their opponents have picked up an unrivalled six red cards in the Premier League this season.

Tottenham Hotspur

  • Tottenham would need to win all of their remaining 13 league matches this season to equal the 23 victories they recorded in 2018-19.
  • Spurs are unbeaten in 22 Premier League away games against promoted sides since losing 1-0 at QPR in April 2012.
  • They have won only two of their 12 away games in the top flight this season. They won at least nine away matches in the league in each of the previous seven campaigns.
  • Tottenham have had fewer shots on target (110) than they have faced (125) in the Premier League this season - the last time they faced more than they had in a single season was in 2003-04.
  • Spurs could become the first club to concede a penalty in four consecutive Premier League matches since Stoke City from December 2013 to January 2014.

Video