Tottenham Hotspur heads to Aston Villa for a fourth round FA Cup tie that also happens to be a matchup of two sides that began the season with realistic top four expectations. However, neither one are in that portion of the table right now. And only one of these two clubs was proactive in the January transfer window about trying to remedy the situation.
Coincidentally, it’s side that is much closer to the UEFA Champions League qualification slots.
FA Cup 4th Round FYIs
Tottenham Hotspur at Aston Villa
Kickoff: Sun. Feb. 9, 5:35pm, Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
Team News: Tottenham Aston Villa
Starting XI Predictions: Tottenham Aston Villa
You can’t look at what Spurs during the window that just closed on Monday and believe that they anything close to papering over all their cracks, let alone strengthened.
As for Villa, they matched Manchester City in terms of getting out there and taking action to try and solve their issues. And Sunday marks the first chance to see the new Villa signings in action.
Aston Villa Starting XI Prediction vs Tottenham Hotspur
Robin Olsen; Andres Garcia, Boubacar Kamara, Ezri Konsa, Ian Maatsen; Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana; Rogers, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey; Donyell Malen
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.