In fact, top-four hopefuls Spurs have now conceded the opener in each of their last six Premier League encounters, and if Aston Villa manage to strike first, it will match the longest such run in league action for the North London outfit since 1988!
Tottenham Hotspur
Although they eventually drew 2-2, Tottenham Hotspur’s star striker Harry Kane noted on Twitter that he was “disappointed we gave ourselves a lot to do” after falling 2-0 behind at Brentford on Boxing Day. Fans have become accustomed to such an order of play in the Premier League, with Spurs picking up 14 of their 30 points when conceding first. In fact, top-four hopefuls Spurs have now conceded the opener in each of their last six Premier League encounters, and if Aston Villa manage to strike first, it will match the longest such run in league action for the North London outfit since 1988! Whether they go behind or not, Tottenham will hope for a positive start to the new year, so they don’t slip even further behind bitter rivals Arsenal.
They’ll be confident they can do just that after winning seven of their last eight Premier League games played on New Year’s Day, especially after winning eight of the previous nine fixtures versus Villa.
Aston Villa
A 3-1 defeat to Liverpool put a dampener on the Boxing Day celebrations for Villa, yet there is plenty for fans to smile about in the early days of Unai Emery’s tenure at the club. The Spaniard isn’t one for boring football, as all four games under his stewardship saw goals at both ends and at least three in total, whilst none of his overall 54 Premier League games ended goallessly! Breaking into the top half appears to be the aim for Villa this term, but ending their hoodoo in the capital city stands in the way of any immediate progress on that goal. The Villans are without a clean sheet in 13 consecutive league visits to London whilst they’ve lost each of the last five in Premier League action, so that the travelling fans may be wise to temper expectations.
With his five goals and three assists on this day, no player has made more Premier League goal contributions in New Year’s Day fixtures than Harry Kane. Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has scored on his last two visits to Spurs and could become only the third man after Dion Dublin and Daniel Sturridge to score in three straight-away H2Hs against them with another. Tottenham have won six of their seven Premier League games as home favourites this season.