Tottenham Hotspur predicted XI vs. Aston Villa: £15m man returns as nine set to miss out for Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur return to action against Aston Villa on Sunday with one clear aim in their mind.

The week before the international break proved to be a nightmare for Ange Postecoglou after his side suffered a damaging home defeat against London rivals Chelsea before emerging empty-handed from a visit to Wolves, despite taking an early lead at Molineux.

Despite those defeats, Spurs still remain in the fourth and final Champions League place ahead of Villa's visit to North London and could even leapfrog the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool if they claim a win and results elsewhere go their way.

The meeting with Unai Emery's side will prove to be a stern test for Spurs as they host a side sat just one place and one point below them in the Premier League table - and the challenge they will present is not lost on Postecoglou.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the former Celtic manager said: "They've been good since Unai [Emery] has got there. They've been really consistent with the way they play their football and particularly over recent weeks they are scoring goals. They obviously have a great deal of belief so it will be a great test for us, but we're at home. Apart from the Chelsea game, our home form has been really strong and we need to make sure we get back to that."

The Spurs boss has several major calls to make ahead of the game after receiving mixed news on the injury front with two players set to return and several remaining in a packed treatment room.

Tottenham Hotspur Team News

The major positive for Postecoglou is the progress of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur after he continued his comeback from a long-term injury by featuring for Uruguay in World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Argentina and Bolivia over the last ten days. The former Juventus star could be handed his first Premier League start in nine months as fellow midfielder Yves Bissouma is suspended.

Cristian Romero also serves a ban after the Argentina international was shown a red card in the home defeat against Chelsea prior to the international break. That game also saw Postecoglou robbed of the services of summer signings Micky van de Ven and James Maddison after they suffered respective hamstring and ankle injuries during the defeat. Richarlison is set to undergo surgery on a pelvic issue and that will mean he will join Manor Solomon (knee), Ivan Perisic (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) and Alfie Whiteman (ankle) on the sidelines. Destiny Odogie is set to be available after he missed out on representing Italy during the international break with a muscle injury.

Tottenham Hotspur Predicted XI

Vicario; Porro, Dier, Davies, Udogie; Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sarr; Kulusevski, Son, Johnson.