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Key occasions
45+2 min: McGinn curls an effort at purpose however Vicario reads it and might collect comfortably.
45 min: A hefty 5 minutes to be added on, given the accidents to Kamara and Richarlison.
44 min: Tel does fantastically to twist and activate the Spurs left, earlier than whipping in a vicious cross. Danso meets it on the again put up nevertheless it’s all a bit congested and the trouble bobbles extensive. Higher from the house facet, although.
42 min: Kolo Muani has the ball within the web … however he’s offside. It was excellent from Xavi Simons within the buildup, although, dropping deep to play quarterback then surging by way of with the ball at his toes. Kolo Muani simply wanted to carry his run.
40 min: Spurs drive a nook … which Danso heads over the bar.
39 min: … headed clear. However there’s a gulf between the edges in the meanwhile – one nicely drilled and oozing confidence, one awkward, nervous and somewhat shambling.
38 min: Malen forces one other nook. Spurs reeling …
37 min: Rogers flashes an effort throughout purpose from the within proper channel. It’s one-way site visitors in the meanwhile.
36 min: Konsa’s ball out of defence is picked off, however Tel overhits his move which was solely within the obscure route of Kolo Muani in any case.
34 min: … Rogers has a few optimistic efforts at purpose from the sting of the field however they’re each blocked by defenders.
33 min: Malen shuffles his technique to the touchline and appears to select a teammate within the center. Cleared away however Villa have one other nook …
31 min: Passpasspass from Villa. Passpasspasspasspasspasspass.
29 min: Richarlison hobbles off relatively glumly. Kolo Muani will change him.
28 min: Richarlison chases after a protracted punt excessive … and his hamstring appears to pop. Not going nicely for Spurs, this.
27 min: That has taken the wind out of the house sails somewhat – there was some first rate noise pouring down from the house terraces early on. However you sense they’ve seen this movie earlier than.
25 min: Money stings Vicario’s … er … knuckles with a fizzing shot from distance, the goalkeeper punching away. Spurs are rocking a bit right here.
23 min: That got here out of nowhere actually, however simply exhibits Villa’s capacity to undergo the gears. Frank won’t be notably happy together with his central midfielders thoughts.
GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Aston Villa (Buendia 22)
What a superb purpose that is. Villa lastly discover a little bit of area between the strains – two straight passes discovering McGinn 40 yards from purpose. He turns the ball on to the onrushing Malen, who chooses the precise move to the overlapping Buendia and the Argentinian crashed his shot previous Vicario and into the roof of the web from 10 yards.
20 min: Villa drive a nook … nevertheless it involves nought.
19 min: Honest to say this doesn’t actually have the really feel of a 4-3 thriller.
18 min: Porro volleys in a cross, Tel half-volleys it again throughout purpose and out for a Villa throw-in.
17 min: Davies is somewhat unfortunate to see his cushioned pull-back deflected away for a goal-kick. Spurs have properly labored their means into the sport.
15 min: Money holds off Tel fantastically down by the nook flag and Villa do brilliantly to play the ball out, earlier than Spurs nab it again. Finally Davies punts the ball in hopefully nevertheless it’s nowhere close to Richarlison.
14 min: Tel breaks however a scarcity of help means he has to cease and switch inside. Tottenham are in a position to recycle the ball, although, and Odobert slams a shot at purpose, straight at Bizot.
13 min: … which involves nothing.
12 min: Affected person buildup work from Villa finally earns them a nook …
10 min: Malen shimmies inside from the left very properly however then wangs his effort excessive, extensive and never notably good-looking. The guests have actually made the brighter begin, although.
9 min: Villa get their collective foot on the ball and look to dictate the tempo.
7 min: Kamara hobbles off, Tielemans trots on and this recreation hasn’t actually began but.
5 min: Kamara doesn’t look in a position to proceed. He tried however has gone down once more – Youri Tielemans is about to switch him.
4 min: Kamara will get whacked by Palhinha in midfield. It’s all very stop-start up to now.
3 min: Simons thunks into Money on the touchline – wherever else on the pitch and maybe 20 minutes into the sport that’s seemingly a reserving however the Spurs man escapes censure.
2 min: Xavi Simons lands very awkwardly after going up for a header however he’s OK to proceed.
1 min: Malen is nearly in inside 40 seconds after Rogers hoiks the ball over the Spurs backline. A greater contact and there might need been some issues there.
Peep! Off we go then. Spurs get issues beneath means.
Earlier than we kick-off the gamers, followers and a throng of Spurs legends on the touchline observe a minute’s applause for Martin Chivers and Terry Yorath.
Out come the gamers. It’s a cold night time in north London however dry.
Click on-clack, click-clack … the gamers are within the tunnel.
The floodlights are off on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the pre-game lightshow is beneath means. It sounds a bit naff, doesn’t it, however in my expertise it’s truly fairly spectacular.
Elsewhere on the positioning, Nigeria are cruising in the direction of the Afcon semi finals:
Whereas Newcastle and Bournemouth are cruising in the direction of penalties …
It’s in fact been an emotional week for Spurs following the demise of Martin Chivers – a League Cup and Uefa Cup winner with the membership and a bonafide legend.
So Spurs make 5 adjustments to the group that misplaced 3-2 to Bournemouth final day trip, whereas Villa make six adjustments to the XI to the facet that drew 0-0 at Palace. I might say these are each robust squads, although – no sense of both membership taking the competitors seemingly.
The lineups
Tottenham: Vicario; Danso, Palhinha, Simons, Richarlison, Tel, Grey, Porro, Odobert, Davies, Van de Ven. Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Udogie, Solanke, Spence, Kolo Muani, Scarlett, Byfield, Williams-Barnett
Aston Villa: Bizot; Money, Konsa, Pau, Maatsen, Bogarde, Kamara, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Malen. Subs: Wright, Lindelof, Mings, Tielemans, Watkins, Digne, Garcia, Sancho, Hemmings.
Preamble
Nicely, it has been a terrific day within the FA Cup thus far, with Macclesfield’s history-making victory over Crystal Palace the undoubted spotlight. There received’t fairly be that form of magic in north London this night however relatively an intriguing assembly of a few Premier League huge beasts.
Tottenham and Thomas Frank have been having a depressing time of it within the Premier League, the place they’ve received simply twice since October – a run stretching again 12 matches. Aston Villa, in the meantime, have been in sensational kind, a return to the Champions League is mainly nailed on and the one concern of notice is retaining maintain of Unai Emery.
However within the FA Cup of late the shape suggests a distinct story. Villa have tended in the direction of feast or famine – within the 9 years between reaching the ultimate in 2015 and the semis final 12 months there was a run of seven successive third-round exits sandwiched between two fourth-round defeats. Spurs have been remarkably constant – they’ve been knocked out within the third spherical solely as soon as since 2005-06, a fairly first rate two-decade run.
All of it may/ought to make for one thing fairly entertaining. Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT.