Hurricane Harry Kane to help Spurs smash fragile Villa once more

Coral preview two teams that started this Premier League season so well, but now see their managers heavily under pressure. Tottenham are on a bad run with just one win from their last seven top-flight games, four defeats, while Aston Villa have lost each of their last five without scoring. A draw here at Villa Park, therefore, may be a tempting shout at 23/10.

However, Spurs will be the side who go into this encounter in most confidence, having amazingly won each of their previous five meetings with the Villans in all competitions, and all to nil. They are 11/10 favourites for a victory again, and 13/5 chances to do so without conceding.

In those five fixtures, the north Londoners amassed a total of 15 goals, at an average of three per game, so are very tempting 15/4 chances to score three or more, as they did in two of their last three trips to Villa.

But Paul Lambert will be desperately hoping for an upset here, though, as his side face the final match in what was seen as a deadly run. Prior to this game with Spurs, Villa had to face Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton all in a row, before their most recent defeat to strugglers QPR.

The West Midlands outfit did manage to shock one of those top teams, however, as they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield. You can back the Villans to return to winning ways against Tottenham, with odds of 11/4, and 10/1 for that scoreline once more.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino will also have wondered what happened to his new club’s promising start to the campaign. The Argentine guided them to straight victories in his first four competitive games in all competitions, but now sees his side down in 11th on 11 points after nine matches.

Pochettino left Southampton this summer for Tottenham in the hope of trying his hand with a higher-profile team, but has seen his old club, who were expected to struggle, soar up into second place on 19 points.

The north Londoners have now lost their last two Premier League games, including most recently at home the Newcastle United, but will be hoping to take heart from their recent win over Brighton and Hove Albion in the Capital One Cup.