Aston Villa vs. Tottenham Hotspur: The UEFA Champions League Battle

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On Saturday, Nov. 28, two of the biggest Premier League clubs outside the top four will do battle, as the mighty Aston Villa host Tottenham Hotspur in one of the key encounters in the race for fourth place.

After 13 games so far in the league, Tottenham has the advantage in the race for that fourth UEFA Champions League position with 25 points, putting them in fourth, three points ahead of fifth placed Aston Villa.

And, it won't be easy for Villa to overturn that deficit, considering they entertain a Tottenham side bang on form and brimming with confidence following their 9-1 annihilation of Wigan Athletic last Sunday at White Hart Lane.

However, come kick-off at Villa Park at 5:30pm, the Villans will hope to slash Tottenham's confidence and top four chances with a win, as they themselves have been in good form recently, having lost only once in eight matches.

Vital Villans

For Aston Villa, the key players will be the likes of Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey.

Downing came back from a seven month lay-off with a broken foot in the last match away at Burnley, and looks set to make his home debut for Villa against Tottenham.

Having cost £10million in the summer, the 25-year old will be eager to impress both the Villa fans (the majority of whom will see him for the first time in a Villa shirt against Tottenham), as well as England manager Fabio Capello, who will need some convincing before recalling him to the national team, especially in the World Cup year.

Big striker Emile Heskey will also be another key man for the Villans, as he'll be high on confidence following his first goal of the season last weekend.

And ahead of World Cup in 2010, he will be another man looking to impress the England manager, who no doubt will be keeping a close eye on this match.

Super Spurs

If there is one man who will make a difference in this match for Tottenham Hotspur, it's striker Jermain Defoe, who's five-star performance against Wigan Athletic pushed him to the top in the Premier League top scorers' chart.

With attacking talent like Defoe and Robbie Keane, Villa's backline could well have their work cut out, and especially with another Tottenham striker, Peter Crouch, who will, no doubt, like to get one back against his former club.

Interesting Facts (courtesy of avfc.co.uk )

• Aston Villa has scored in all of their Premier League fixtures since failing to hit the target against Wigan Athletic on the opening day of the season.
• No team has won more penalties than Villa this season, who have won four.
• The Villans have picked up 13 points from their last five home league matches.
• Tottenham Hotpsur has kept only one clean sheet in their last 17 Premier League away games.
• Tottenham has hit the woodwork eight times this season; that's more than any other Premier League team.
• A 2-1 scoreline is the most common in this fixture. Four of the last five encounters have finished this way.

Referee: Phil Dowd

Venue: Villa Park

Kick-off: 5.30pm

Live coverage is available on ESPN.

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