Tottenham v Aston Villa FA Cup preview
A tie against opponents who have already won at Spurs this season would not have been on beleaguered Tottenham manager Thomas Frank’s wishlist for the FA Cup third round, and the Premier League languishers are going to have to contradict the form book if they are to earn their first win of 2026 at the fourth attempt.
A 95th-minute 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday was compounded by PR misery for Frank when he was pictured sampling a pre-match drink from an Arsenal-branded cup. Victory over the third-placed side in the top flight would be refreshingly more palatable for the second-favourite to become the next manager in the division to leave their post.
“Villa are a very good team who are flying,” said Frank, calling the contest “a good opportunity to progress”.
“The FA Cup is very important for the club, for the fans. We’ve won it eight times. I’m working hard with the staff, with the players, with the leadership. This is just a tough spell. We’ll get through this.”
Villa would be second in the league and four points behind leaders Arsenal had Ollie Watkins hit the net rather than a post during their 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Victory would also have been revenge for their 3-0 defeat to the Eagles in last season’s FA Cup semi-finals last season, when their run had included a 2-1 home win over Spurs in the fourth round.
“We are again away and again travelling, but we are accepting of it,” said manager Unai Emery. “Last year that we played a semi-final. Hopefully we can repeat that.
“It was a fantastic response from the players against Crystal Palace. We have been winning a lot of matches, and how we competed was really fantastic.”
FA Cup third round 2025: Tottenham v Aston Villa team news
Forward Dominic Solanke (ankle) and defenders Destiny Udogie and Kota Takai (both hamstring) remain out for Tottenham, as do midfielders James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski with knee injuries.
Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur also have hamstring issues. Fellow midfielder Lucas Bergvall is a doubt, having joined Bentancur in departing through injury at Bournemouth.
Mali midfielder Yves Bissouma and Senegal counterpart Pape Matar Sarr are part of their countries’ Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squads.
Defender Pau Torres returned from a calf problem as an unused Villa substitute at Palace, but centre-back Tyrone Mings (hamstring) missed out again.
Midfielder Ross Barkley is expected to be absent until February with a knee issue. Amadou Onana has a hamstring injury and forward Evann Guessand is in the AFCON quarter-finals with Ivory Coast.
Tottenham v Aston Villa predicted FA Cup line-ups
Tottenham starting XI: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Djed Spence, Lucas Bergvall, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons, Archie Gray, Randal Kolo Muani, Richarlison
Aston Villa starting XI: Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Victor Lindelof, Ian Maatsen, John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, Jadon Sancho, Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins
How to watch Spurs v Villa: FA Cup TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Saturday is at 17:45 GMT (12:45 ET / 09:45 PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is on BBC One, TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 9 and TNT Sports Ultimate.
TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.
Online live streaming is available on a vast range of devices through BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the discovery+ app
Tottenham v Villa FA Cup 2025/26 stats
- Tottenham have lost two of their last three FA Cup ties against Villa
- The last team to eliminate Spurs from the FA Cup in consecutive seasons were Manchester United in 2007/08 and 2008/09
- Spurs have progressed from 18 of their last 19 FA Cup third round ties, doing so in each of the last 11 campaigns since a 2-0 loss at Arsenal in 2013/14
- Only bottom side Wolves (1) have won fewer home games in this season’s Premier League than Tottenham (2)
- No team outside of the relegation zone in the division has averaged fewer points per home game (0.9)
- As a top-flight side, the last team Villa beat twice away from home in a single campaign was Norwich City in 2012/12
- The Villans have won their last two FA Cup third round ties, having been eliminated at this stage in each of the seven campaigns before this
- Morgan Rogers has been involved in five goals in four appearances against Tottenham in all competitions (3 goals, 2 assists), scoring and assisting in Villa’s 2-1 win against them in the FA Cup last season and scoring in their 2-1 victory at Spurs in the league on October 19
- Only Arsenal (2) have lost fewer away games in this season’s Premier League than Villa (3)
- They have won three of their last four visits to Tottenham, scoring twice in each of those victories. Rogers put them ahead on their one loss in the sequence, succumbing 4-1 in November 2024