Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has shared his prediction ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa this afternoon.
The north Londoners make the trip to Villa Park on the back of their 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace last weekend, which was their first win in their last five Premier League matches.
Villa have lost their last two games against Manchester United and Wolves but come up against a Tottenham side who have struggled on the road and are without an away win in all competitions since beating Preston North End in the FA Cup in January.
Last time out, the pundit predicted that Spurs would beat Palace, however, he got the scoreline wrong when he tipped Ryan Mason’s side to win 3-2 (SportsKeeda).
Merson, who played for Villa during his career believes his former side will play out a score draw today.
He told SportsKeeda: “I’ve been a bit disappointed with Aston Villa lately. They went on such a good run, winning eight of their nine games between March 18 and April 26. Then they got well beaten at Manchester United and then they went and lost 1-0 to Wolves. I think their form has fizzled out a bit.
“This is going to be an open game and Tottenham have the better finisher in Harry Kane. Villa will be pleased with the way the season has gone to get where they are now after a poor start. But what worries me is that they got many of their positive results when the pressure was off. As soon as Europe was in the vicinity, they started to crumble.
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“If they beat United and Wolves, they would have still been in the top-four race. So Unai Emery has got to address that issue of performing under pressure because there are games they should have won but just didn’t.”
SpursWeb Opinion
A draw would be a disaster for Tottenham if they hold out any hopes of a place in the Europa League next season. Brighton are snapping at the heels of Spurs and have two games in hand.
The only saving grace is the Seagulls face Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester City and Aston Villa in four of their last five fixtures of the season while Spurs have Brentford and Leeds to face after today’s game.
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