Spurs on Sunday, Jack and match facts

It's nearly 1pm where I am when I start to write this post. It's Friday and I've had a busy week. But I'm trying to not have work calls on a Friday now and it appears I've been quite good at planning it, because I only have one left, it's a catch up call and I'll not be expected to say anything and it's only for 15 minutes.

The truth is, I don't even need to attend that call. Where I'm going with this is and regular readers will already know, but is it okay to have a beer with some lunch and a little nap before the kids get home?

Now, the new visitor to the site will have said sure, a beer at lunch on a Friday is okay. Regular visitors will know that it doesn't stop with one. I really should wait until the kids are fed or they'll be eating another one of my creations instead of the minced beer and onion pie they have requested.

And now that I've gotten enough text written we can focus on the real topic, Spurs on Sunday. And the truth is, while this is an opportunity for us with Jose Mourinho serving up what Jose Mourinho serves up, we don't know what we're going to get from Dean Smith this weekend and it's 50/50 on Jack.

And that's why it will be an interesting match to watch.

Everything above I wrote on Friday, everything from this point below and it's just past 8am for me. But no, I didn't have the beer on Friday and it was a great minced beef and onion pie. And we're going to find out very soon if Jack is playing or not and Dean Smith is doing his 'keep it a secret' thing again and he'll be pleased to know it's worked.

Well, that he's keeping it a secret probably means he is playing and if he doesn't, I'm not sure why he couldn't say he wasn't. I mean, it's Spurs and Jose Mourinho, it's not difficult to figure out what you're going to get. But this is just me and I believe that football players have more about them. I'm probably wrong.

But I do fancy we can win today, with or without Jack. I've got a feeling, don't ask me what or how it manifests, it's just a feeling. I can also see Mourinho sacked soon but I also believe that Mourinho is one of the luckiest men in football, so again, probably just me.

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

• Aston Villa have won just one of the past 19 meetings in all competitions, drawing three times and losing 15.
• Tottenham have triumphed on their last six visits to Villa Park in all competitions, doing so by an aggregate score of 17-3.
• Villa could lose six straight Premier League home games against a particular opponent for only the third occasion.

Aston Villa

• Aston Villa have won just once in six Premier League matches - and four of 14 since Boxing Day.
• They scored 27 goals in their first 13 league fixtures of the season, but only 12 in the last 14.
• Villa haven't scored more than once in any of their past nine top-flight games, managing six goals in total.
• Only Manchester City and Chelsea have conceded fewer goals than Villa's total of 28.
• Eleven of Villa's 12 Premier League wins this season have been accompanied by a clean sheet.
• Emiliano Martinez could equal Brad Friedel's Premier League club record of 15 cleans sheets in a season.
• Villa have won only one of seven league games without Jack Grealish since their 2019 promotion, drawing two and losing four.

Tottenham Hotspur

• Tottenham have lost four of their past five away league matches, as many as in their previous 20.
• Spurs have been beaten in seven successive games against teams currently in the top half of the table.
• They have lost nine league fixtures this term - Jose Mourinho has never been beaten 10 times in a league season during his managerial career.
• Tottenham are winless in their past five Premier League matches without Son Heung-min, drawing two and losing three.
• Gareth Bale scored the first league hat-trick of his senior club career when he last faced Villa, in a 4-0 away triumph in December 2012.
• Mourinho has lost only two of 14 matches against Villa in all competitions, winning eight and drawing four.