Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur: Who will approach Christmas in the top four?
The big game of the day sees fifth placed Aston Villa take on fourth placed Tottenham. A combination of the teams suggests that Spurs is currently stronger. But with Downing about to kick-off his Villa career that balance could yet shift - especially with the January transfer window being just five weeks away.
Aston Villa's form in recent weeks has been patchy, picking up just six points from the last five league games, but as the late Heskey equalizer at Burnley shows this is not a team that will lose many games this season. Villa look like they will benefit from an early European exit and with the experience of last season in mind, now know what it takes to finish in the top four. Villa are not always considered as strong a challenger for the top four as Spurs or Man City - but they have a good chance. Villa need a win to get on terms with Spurs but after 1-1 draws with Wolves, Everton and Burnley recently - perhaps another one is possible?
Aston Villa last 5 league games XXLWX
Wolves (a) 1-1
Everton (a) 1-1
West Ham (a) 1-2
Bolton (h) 5-1
Burnley (a) 1-1
I made the somewhat contentious suggestion that Spurs should end the year above Arsenal last weekend; that's the year (2009) as opposed to the season (2009/10) before anyone else miserably comments without reading what they are commenting on or any of the reasons why Spurs should garner more points than Arsenal by the end of December. But this is probably the pivotal weekend for that prediction; Arsenal play their hardest game against Chelsea and Spurs play their hardest, here at Villa Park. If Spurs can demonstrate the attacking verve that saw them score eight second half goals against Wigan then they will beat anyone - but the worry remains that it was a one-off before the more usual slide into inconsistency.
Tottenham Hotspur last 5 league games WLLWW
Portsmouth (a) 2-1
Stoke (h) 0-1
Arsenal (a) 0-3
Sunderland (h) 2-0
Wigan (h) 9-1
Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur; Kick Off 5:30pm 28 Nov 2009
Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).
Dave Blackburn : 1 - 0
Chris Cox : 1 - 1
Graham Enwright : 2 - 2
Sue Gardener : 1 - 1
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 2
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Peter Lee : 1 - 1
Don McMahon : 2 - 2
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 3
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 1 - 1
Peter Rendle : 1 - 1
Dan Taylor : 2 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : 1 - 1
Mark Williams : 2 - 2
Panel Verdict
The panel is expecting a hard fought score draw - 1-1 or 2-2
Home: 4; Draw: 12; Away: 1; TBC: 3.
* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!
