Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, both recently spending heavily on transfers but currently struggling with poor results in the Premier League, will face each other at Tottenham's stadium on Saturday. Aston Villa under manager Unai Emery has spent over £250m on new players this summer while also losing key figures like Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins; meanwhile, Tottenham has added ten new players for more than £300m. Despite the financial investment, both clubs are in the bottom four of the league table after three rounds of matches, with Villa particularly looking to integrate their new signings while retaining performance consistency from veteran players such as John McGinn and Tyrone Mings.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
More than half a billion spent between them, for just three points and one goal.
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billion → publish → points
It is not a surprise that a summer of change at both clubs has failed to bring immediate results - but they need to ignite their season.
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they → fail → season
They meet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday as the past two Europa League winners but sitting in the bottom four of the early Premier League table.
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They → meet → table
With 10 new players, and six key sales - including Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins - Unai Emery is shaping a new Villa team.
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Emery → include → team
Tottenham also added 10 players for more than £300m but goodwill is in short supply after two years of relegation battles.
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goodwill → add → battles
Emery remains calm behind the scenes
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Emery → remain → scenes
At VIlla, Emery has credit in the bank after turning them from a team floundering in mid-table to Europa League winners - qualifying for Europe every season since his arrival, and getting them back into the Champions League this year.
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Emery → have → League
Emery conceded he did not know exactly why Villa lost control during last Saturday's defeat by Nottingham Forest - but knows he was unable to make a significant impact from the touchline with all the new players still fitting in to their new set-up.
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players → concede → up
He can look frantic in his technical area during games, but has an impressive ability to decompress immediately and speak to the players calmly by the time he has returned to the dressing room.
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he → look → room
Emery remains confident Villa will improve yet is relying on John McGinn and Tyrone Mings, as two of the senior players, to help him and the squad through a difficult patch.
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Villa → remain → patch
It is a reason why both played in Wednesday's Carabao Cup win at Coventry rather than being rested.
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both → play → Coventry
Captain McGinn has previously described learning Emery's methods as doing "a lot of homework".
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McGinn → describe → homework
That may be why Aaron Wan-Bissaka has struggled in his opening three games as he tries to adapt quickly - the same too for other new signings perhaps overthinking their roles.
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signings → struggle → roles
An extended three-week break follows Saturday's match.
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break → follow → match
But the head coach will not get the much-needed time on the training ground with his squad, as many go on international duty.
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many → get → duty
"This break is crazy because it's three weeks," Emery said.
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Emery → say → ?
"I don't like to be three weeks but we must accept it.
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we → like → it
"We are not going to have the players we want.
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we → go → players
[Johan] Manzambi played the first two matches with us and Saturday the third and then he goes with the national team.
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he → play → team
"Back with us, we must again try to join him with us in our structure and his mind will maybe be confused.
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mind → try → structure
We don't want to use the international break as an excuse.
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We → want → excuse
"Saturday is very important as we lack points but we continue in our process trying to work as well as possible."
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we → lack → process
Manzambi, brought in from Freiburg, and £47m winger Ibrahim Mbaye, who has moved from Paris St-Germain. made their debuts last weekend, coming off the bench against Forest, and are set to form part of a new attack.
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who → bring → attack
Nicolas Jackson, signed from Chelsea in August, will start on Saturday after coming off the bench at the CBS Arena as Emery gets close to his preferred line-up, with Villa looking to click after notching just one point in their opening four games.
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Villa → sign → games
Only Villa, with 3.39, have a worse xG in the Premier League so far this season than Spurs' 3.45.
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Villa → have → 3.45
Alysson's header in the 2-1 defeat by Forest was their first goal in the Premier League this term, with Spurs still searching for theirs.
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Spurs → search → theirs
Both are still worse than bottom club Coventry, who are pointless and goalless, but have an xG of 4.21.
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who → have → 4.21
Villa have had the lowest number of shots in the Premier League with 33, compared to Tottenham's 51, while their six on target is also the worst in the top flight followed by Spurs' 12.
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six → have → 12
Only Hull have had fewer touches in the box (47) than Villa's 62.
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Hull → have → 62
Yet Villa's defence must still be wary of struggling Spurs despite the hosts' lack of goals.
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defence → struggle → goals
Matty Cash is available after recovering from a muscle problem but fellow defenders Pau Torres and Ian Maatsen are out for a match in which Villa can expect to face pressure.
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Villa → recover → pressure
Only Manchester United, Arsenal, Brighton and Liverpool have made more passes in the final third than Tottenham (617), who have the highest successful pass completion rate, at 81.4%.
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who → make → %
Villa's tally of 32 crosses, the lowest in the league, is half as many as Tottenham have managed.
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Tottenham → manage → league
It has been 407 minutes since Spurs last scored in the Premier League.
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Spurs → score → League
They have failed to score in four successive Premier League matches - the first time that has happened since September 2006.
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that → fail → September
But despite both sides' struggle for goals, history does not point to a 0-0 draw.
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history → point → draw
None of the past 22 Premier League meetings between Spurs (15 wins) and Aston Villa (seven) have been drawn.
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None → draw → Spurs
As Villa rebuild, they might hope a match against opponents struggling for wins might be the chance to kick-start their season.
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match → rebuild → season
But they cannot afford to be lulled into a false sense of security.
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they → afford → security
The Aporia
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