Tottenham vs Aston Villa live: Unai Emery’s side face Premier League test after political storm

Thomas Frank wants to make Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a fortress but knows it will take “unbelievable cohesion” with the fans to achieve.

Spurs host Aston Villa eager to arrest their woeful home form in the Premier League, with only three top-flight wins in 2025.

The majority of a dismal run of three home wins in 17 league games came under Frank’s predecessor Ange Postecoglou, who struggled with an injury crisis at the start of the year before he prioritised Europa League success over domestic matters.

However, Frank’s short tenure has produced mixed results at the club’s 62,850-seater stadium, with boos audible after a defeat to Bournemouth in August and following a frustrating 1-1 draw with Wolves last month.

Violence at football is usually performative rather than actual, says Jim White, but there are fixtures where the swelling anger can boil into something dark.

Editorial: The decision to bar fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from England’s second city is a mess, but we must take care not to let this disgrace become a disaster:

The Government is exploring what extra support police in Birmingham would need to allow fans from both sides into Aston Villa’s match against Maccabi Tel Aviv in November, a spokesman said.

Pressure has been mounting to overturn the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters attending the Europa League match.

The Government is working to make sure the match can go ahead with all fans allowed to attend, a spokesman said.

It’s been a strange and probably taxing week for plenty at Aston Villa, caught up in a political storm after announcing that they had been advised to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending their Europa League tie next month. Here’s the full story.

After rivals Arsenal went back to the top of the Premier League table last night, Tottenham will hope to close the gap to two points as they look to continue a seven-match unbeaten run in a meeting with Aston Villa – but the hosts’ dismal home form in 2025 will give the visitors hope of a win on the road after a week dominated by the political storm surrounding their Europa League tie with Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Kick off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is at 2pm BST.