Aston Villa came from behind to extend their unbeaten run against Tottenham Hotspur, who were without defenders Christian Romero (£5.1 million) and Lot Udogie (£4.4m) due to injury.
Below are our scout notes from Spurs 1-2 Aston Villa.
ROMERO + UDOGIE INJURIES
Tottenham suffered a heavy blow before kick-off when Romero suffered an injury during the warm-up.
The captain was quickly replaced by Kevin Danso (£4.3 million), with Thomas Frank revealing he had suffered a minor kidnapper’s injury.
“Minor abductor injury. He felt it a little bit the last few days. We expected him to be fine, but he wasn’t. I don’t think it’s too big.” – Thomas Frank on Cristian Romero
Frank was later asked whether he expected Romero to be available for Monaco on Wednesday.
“I don’t know. It could be, but it can’t be. I just don’t know right now, if I’m honest.” – Thomas Frank on Cristian Romero
Udogie was also absent from the match selection due to a knee injury, although Frank does not expect this to be a long-term problem.
“He came back from international duty with a slight knee irritation, so that keeps him out for this game.” – Thomas Frank about Destiny Udogie
KUDUS LIVELY/SIMONS ARM
Tottenham’s stadium has been an unhappy place for Spurs in recent times.
They have now won just three of their last 18 Premier League games at home, taking just 13 points from a possible 54.
This season it is only one win in four:
Above: Tottenham’s home league results in 2025/26, via Who scored
Yet they certainly had chances on Sunday.
Next Rodrigo Bentancur‘s ( £5.3m ) early opener from a corner, the electric Mohammed Jerusalem (£6.8 million) has previously had a goal disallowed for offside Emiliano Martinez (£5.0 million) refused Joao Palhinha (£5.5 million).
Micky van Ven (£4.8m) and Brennan Johnson (£6.8m) wasted other opportunities.
But Xavi Simons (£7.0 million) and Mathijs Tel (£6.3m), which retained its place at the top Richarlison (£6.7 million), were largely anonymous.
Simons has now made four clean sheets in a row and has failed to register a shot in his last three matches.
“I like Xavi’s personality today, especially in the first half. I think he wanted to get the ball, he wanted to create. I think he was very aggressive in pressing. I think it was a great match. I think I have to remember it myself when we judge players and they come to a new club, a new country. I know it is part of football. We judge them with a very small number of games. I have no doubt that it will be good for us. Today was an average match.” – Thomas Frank about Xavi Simons
Focusing on the positive aspects of Sunday’s performance, Tottenham conceded just two shots in the penalty area while Villa were limited to just 0.37 expected goals (xG).
“There’s a few things you can look at when you look defensively. We gave away eight shots, I think, not even over, more or less. Very, very low xG and Vicario didn’t have to make a save.” –Thomas Frank
WHY WATKINS WAS AN IMPROVEMENT FROM SUB/VILLA
After failing to win each of their first five league matches this season, Villa has now won three in a row.
Here Unai Emery made two changes to his starting XI, with the fit-again Amadou Onana (£4.8m) and Evann Guessand (£6.3m) replaced Lamare Bogarde (£4.0 million) and Ollie Watkins (£8.6 million).
Watkins was unable to start after sustaining an injury while on international duty with England.
“He continued to improve and has become unfit to play the match.” – Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins
In his absence, Donyell Malen (£5.1m) continued in front, but apart from a left-footed shot that went narrowly wide of the post, he failed to make an impact as he struggled to deal with the physicality of Danso and van de Ven.
The result was Emery mixing it up on the hour mark and sending off the goalscorer Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) and Watkins.
Both players repaid the faith and earned the praise of their managers after the whistle.
“One reason why he struggled in two years was his injury. He needed time to recover. He started this season and this preseason differently than the last. His skills are clear. He has skills to make a difference. I am so happy with him.” – Unai Emery on Emiliano Buendia
Buendia’s attack was particularly sweet, a low curling effort from outside the penalty area after excellent build-up play with wing-backs Matty Cash (£4.6 million) and Lucas Digne (£4.5 million).
Prior to that, Morgan Rogers (£6.8m) somehow scored his first club goal of the season, with a stunning shot from 25 yards out.
The England international has now scored three attacking goals in his last three games as Villa finally start to turn around their miserable start to the season.
‘Always him [Rogers] does its job, always. He is a hard worker. It comes through, his performance. The team needs the work, and then the capacity and skills.
“Today Watkins played a fantastic 30 minutes. I saw him today thinking… wow. He didn’t score but he was fantastic. Morgan has made the same progress. We can be brilliant or not brilliant, but we always have to work.”
“Morgan plays and scores because he helps the team for 90 minutes. He has the capacity for 90 minutes. It is very important.” – Unai Emery on Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins
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