Kick-off: 1400, 01/01/2023
Stadium: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
TV: Sky Sports
Tottenham entertain Aston Villa in the first Premier League match of 2023 and the hosts are fancied to come out on top.
However, Villa have scored on their last three visits to this venue, winning here a couple of seasons ago in between 3-1 and 2-1 defeats.
That nudges us towards 23/10 for Spurs to win and both teams to net for our opening Tottenham vs Aston Villa prediction.
Tottenham Hotspur Odds
Tottenham came from behind three times to shade Leeds in a seven-goal thriller on home turf prior to the World Cup break and produced another fightback at Brentford on Boxing Day.
Spurs found themselves 2-0 down early in the second half, but Harry Kane’s fine header cut the deficit and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg slammed home an equaliser.
Incredibly, that made it nine consecutive matches in which they have conceded the first goal.
“The first half was very bad, we didn’t feel ready, we lost every second ball and didn’t do anything with the ball,” Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski told the club website.
“We have to improve. It’s not OK to start games like this. If we want to be a big team, we have to start playing from the first minute.
“It’s not enough with words, we have to do it on the pitch.
“If I knew how to change it, I would tell everybody, but I don’t know. We have to figure it out as a team.”
Antonio Conte is too shrewd a coach to allow the slow starts to continue, so watch out for a response.
Kulusevski was on target when Spurs prevailed 4-0 at Villa Park in April and it is 3/1 he nets in another win here.
However, Son Heung-min hit a hat-trick in that game and gets the nod to break the deadlock again at 4/1 in our Tottenham vs Aston Villa betting tips.
Last Spurs line-up: Forster, Dier, Tanganga, Lenglet, Doherty, Hojbjerg, Perisic, Bissouma, Son, Kane, Kulusevski.
World Cup-winner Cristian Romero will return for Tottenham, with Hugo Lloris also set to start in goal. Spurs will remain without Rodrigo Bentancur (hamstring), Lucas Moura (tendon) and Richarlison (hamstring).
Aston Villa Odds
Villa spent the Qatar 2022 lay-off in good spirits after winning three out of four in the league but resumed with a 3-1 home loss to Liverpool.
Ollie Watkins replied to first-half strikes from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk with just under an hour gone but Stefan Bajcetic ended hopes of a fightback.
Ashley Young told AVFC TV: “We’ve got to take the positives out of the game and see the chances we created were big chances against a very good Liverpool team.
“On a different day, we come in at half-time with a different result. We came in at half-time 2-0 down, the next goal was going to be massive, the next goal was going to be vital.
“We said at half-time, if we go out there and get that goal then things can change.
“I felt it was all in our favour but when you’re playing against a team like Liverpool, you’re going to leave spaces in behind trying to chase that second goal.
“They went and got the third goal and it was game over after that.”
New boss Unai Emery has been content to let Villa go out and play during his brief tenure so far, perhaps reacting to the criticism predecessor Steven Gerrard received for his style of play.
The visitors should again have their moments here, but we still prefer 15/4 for Spurs to win by any two-goal margin from the Tottenham vs Aston Villa odds.
Last Villa line-up: Olsen, Konsa, Mings, Young, Digne, Douglas Luiz, McGinn, Buendia, Kamara, Watkins, Bailey.
Goalkeeper Emi Martinez is expected to return for Aston Villa after winning the World Cup with Argentina. Diego Carlos (Achilles) remains out, with Jacob Ramsey (hamstring) also expected to miss the trip.
Additional stats
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