Villa vs Spurs | Ange’s preview: “It’s a big test - and that’s great for us”
Sat 09 March 2024, 12:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou is relishing what he describes as a ‘big test’ when we step out against Aston Villa in the Premier League at Villa Park on Sunday (1pm UK).
Villa sit one place and five points above us in fourth ahead of the weekend, although we have a game in hand. Much of Villa’s impressive season is based around their form at Villa Park, where they’ve won 10 of their 13 league matches so far, losing twice.
Ange pointed out that Villa had built on their finish to last season, where they won 10 of their last 15 matches to qualify for Europe. Indeed, they drew 0-0 against Ajax in Amsterdam in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening.
It’s a big game, any time you are playing against clubs around you, it’s a big game
Asked how much he’d been impressed by Villa in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Ange said: “Yeah, very. Even last year, from when Unai came in, he’s got a track record of building really strong teams. You can see that, they’ve got a clear identity, they understand what they need to do on a weekly basis.
“The players they have bought in, really suit the way the manager wants to play. They’ve been hugely impressive, another team that is competitive every game, so you know it’s going to be a tough one. That’s great for us, looking forward to it, it’s a big game, particularly away from home. I thought we were good last week, we were really pleased with our performance in general and hopefully we can build on that.”
Speaking on Inside Spurs, Ange said on Villa: “Like all other teams, you look at their approach but as I always say, we’re at the point of our development where it’s more important how we play our football, and that’s where our focus is on a weekly basis at the moment, trying to maintain a certain level of performance, keep endeavouring to group as individual players and a group and this will be a good test for us on Sunday. It’s a big game, any time you are playing against clubs around you, it’s a big game. It’s a big test, especially away from home. After that, there will be another big 11 games.”
