Aston Villa v. Tottenham || the-gorilla Preview

Having watched 2 games in the last 2 days, I'm optimistically hoping that I'll be able to watch the final match of this gameweek with Tottenham's visit to Aston Villa.

Dean Smith has said that Grealish is back in training but he's unlikely to feature tonight as he hasn't trained with his team mates yet - the Fulham game being a "guaranteed" start. Dean Smith's got a reputation for lieing about injuries so it's possible that saying he's absent means that he'll play or that he won't play against Fulham. We'll have to wait for the team sheet.

Similarly for Spurs, Son Heung-min is unlikely to play but Mourinho's as consistent a liar as Smith is when it comes to injuries so could start too. So let's call this game - "The Battle of the Liars".

Aston Villa have disappointed since Grealish's injury (W1, D2, L2) including a defeat to already relegated Sheffield United. They want to prove they're not a 1-man team but they obviously are. Matty Cash is back from injury and likely to replace Ahmed El Mohamady so their defence will be back to full strength. Cash should provide more attacking threat giving Villa better balance with Targett on the other flank.

Despite Tottenham's unexpected exit from the Europa League (Much to Joe Hart's delight when he tweeted "Job done"), they've looked very exciting in the Premier League - Arsenal game aside. Today's game is the sort of game where Mourinho has a point to prove and I expect Spurs to attack Villa from the outset.

In Ex-Reading Loanee Emi Martinez, Villa have the best keeper in the league this season and I expect him to be a busy boy. My rival has him in goal for his Fantasy Football team so expect to see a record number of saves which will include at least 2 penalties.

Once I get out of "bitter-land", it's fair to say I expect Spurs to comfortably win the Battle of the Liars, scoring early and then counter-attacking at every opportunity.

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