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42 min: Kolo Muani has the ball in the net … but he’s offside. It was superb from Xavi Simons in the buildup, though, dropping deep to play quarterback then surging through with the ball at his feet. Kolo Muani just needed to hold his run.
40 min: Spurs force a corner … which Danso heads over the bar.
39 min: … headed clear. But there’s a gulf between the sides at the moment – one well drilled and oozing confidence, one awkward, nervous and a little shambling.
38 min: Malen forces another corner. Spurs reeling …
37 min: Rogers flashes an effort across goal from the inside right channel. It’s one-way traffic at the moment.
36 min: Konsa’s ball out of defence is picked off, but Tel overhits his pass which was only in the vague direction of Kolo Muani in any case.
34 min: … Rogers has a couple of optimistic efforts at goal from the edge of the box but they’re both blocked by defenders.
33 min: Malen shuffles his way to the touchline and looks to pick out a teammate in the middle. Cleared away but Villa have another corner …
31 min: Passpasspass from Villa. Passpasspasspasspasspasspass.
29 min: Richarlison hobbles off rather glumly. Kolo Muani will replace him.
28 min: Richarlison chases after a long punt over the top … and his hamstring seems to pop. Not going well for Spurs, this.
27 min: That has taken the wind out of the home sails a little – there was some decent noise pouring down from the home terraces early on. But you sense they’ve seen this film before.
25 min: Cash stings Vicario’s … er … knuckles with a fizzing shot from distance, the goalkeeper punching away. Spurs are rocking a bit here.
23 min: That came out of nowhere really, but just shows Villa’s ability to go through the gears. Frank might not be particularly pleased with his central midfielders mind.
GOAL! Tottenham 0-1 Aston Villa (Buendia 22)
What a good goal this is. Villa finally find a bit of space between the lines – two straight passes finding McGinn 40 yards from goal. He turns the ball on to the onrushing Malen, who chooses the right pass to the overlapping Buendia and the Argentinian crashed his shot past Vicario and into the roof of the net from 10 yards.
20 min: Villa force a corner … but it comes to nought.
19 min: Fair to say this doesn’t really have the feel of a 4-3 thriller.
18 min: Porro volleys in a cross, Tel half-volleys it back across goal and out for a Villa throw-in.
17 min: Davies is a little unlucky to see his cushioned pull-back deflected away for a goal-kick. Spurs have nicely worked their way into the game.
15 min: Cash holds off Tel superbly down by the corner flag and Villa do brilliantly to play the ball out, before Spurs nab it back. Eventually Davies punts the ball in hopefully but it’s nowhere near Richarlison.
14 min: Tel breaks but a lack of support means he has to stop and turn inside. Tottenham are able to recycle the ball, though, and Odobert slams a shot at goal, straight at Bizot.
13 min: … which comes to nothing.
12 min: Patient buildup work from Villa eventually earns them a corner …
10 min: Malen shimmies inside from the left very nicely but then wangs his effort high, wide and not particularly handsome. The visitors have certainly made the brighter start, though.
9 min: Villa get their collective foot on the ball and look to dictate the pace.
7 min: Kamara hobbles off, Tielemans trots on and this game hasn’t really started yet.
5 min: Kamara doesn’t look able to continue. He tried but has gone down again – Youri Tielemans is set to replace him.
4 min: Kamara gets whacked by Palhinha in midfield. It’s all very stop-start thus far.
3 min: Simons thunks into Cash on the touchline – anywhere else on the pitch and perhaps 20 minutes into the game that’s likely a booking but the Spurs man escapes censure.
2 min: Xavi Simons lands very awkwardly after going up for a header but he’s OK to continue.
1 min: Malen is almost in within 40 seconds after Rogers hoiks the ball over the Spurs backline. A better touch and there might have been some problems there.
Peep! Off we go then. Spurs get things under way.
Before we kick-off the players, fans and a throng of Spurs legends on the touchline observe a minute’s applause for Martin Chivers and Terry Yorath.
Out come the players. It’s a chilly night in north London but dry.
Click-clack, click-clack … the players are in the tunnel.
The floodlights are off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the pre-game lightshow is under way. It sounds a bit naff, doesn’t it, but in my experience it’s actually pretty impressive.
Elsewhere on the site, Nigeria are cruising towards the Afcon semi finals:
While Newcastle and Bournemouth are cruising towards penalties …
It’s of course been an emotional week for Spurs following the death of Martin Chivers – a League Cup and Uefa Cup winner with the club and a bonafide legend.
So Spurs make five changes to the team that lost 3-2 to Bournemouth last time out, while Villa make six changes to the XI to the side that drew 0-0 at Palace. I would say those are both strong squads, though – no sense of either club taking the competition likely.
The lineups
Tottenham: Vicario; Danso, Palhinha, Simons, Richarlison, Tel, Gray, Porro, Odobert, Davies, Van de Ven. Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Udogie, Solanke, Spence, Kolo Muani, Scarlett, Byfield, Williams-Barnett
Aston Villa: Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Maatsen, Bogarde, Kamara, McGinn, Rogers, Buendia, Malen. Subs: Wright, Lindelof, Mings, Tielemans, Watkins, Digne, Garcia, Sancho, Hemmings.
Preamble
Well, it has been a terrific day in the FA Cup so far, with Macclesfield’s history-making victory over Crystal Palace the undoubted highlight. There won’t quite be that kind of magic in north London this evening but rather an intriguing meeting of a couple of Premier League big beasts.
Tottenham and Thomas Frank have been having a miserable time of it in the Premier League, where they have won just twice since October – a run stretching back 12 matches. Aston Villa, meanwhile, have been in sensational form, a return to the Champions League is basically nailed on and the only concern of note is keeping hold of Unai Emery.
But in the FA Cup of late the form suggests a different story. Villa have tended towards feast or famine – in the nine years between reaching the final in 2015 and the semis last year there was a run of seven successive third-round exits sandwiched between two fourth-round defeats. Spurs have been remarkably consistent – they have been knocked out in the third round only once since 2005-06, a pretty decent two-decade run.
It all could/should make for something quite entertaining. Kick-off is at 5.45pm GMT.
