Premier League games

Tottenham will be aiming to reclaim fourth spot from Manchester United as they welcome Aston Villa in the first Premier League game of the year.

Even the slightest mistake he makes for Aston Villa is going to be seized upon by the opposition and their fans. 8min: That’s better from Tottenham as Ivan Perisic is picked out on the left touchline and floats a cross in looking for Harry Kane. But he is in the house to watch today’s game. Spurs have won 14 points from losing positions this season, the most in the Premier League. Doherty gets into the Villa box with a nutmeg and they win a corner. He cuts inside the defenders, who was caught on his heels, but it’s a poor finish and dragged wide of the near post. 19min: Son is slack in possession inside his own half and is robbed of the ball by Leon Bailey. The 37-year-old needs a bit of treatment and Matty Cash is quickly warming up just in case. 26min: Bissouma down after taking a blow to the head as he went for the ball with Ollie Watkins, who was back on defensive duty. Harry Kane with the back post header and Ashley Young does well to head it off the line! 31min: A few groans around the stadium as another Spurs ball into the box is easily collected by Robin Olsen. Solid enough from Aston Villa so far and they’ll fancy their chances of getting all three points out of this the longer it remains 0-0.

Minute-by-minute report: Will Tottenham start 2023 with victory over Aston Villa? Join Will Unwin to find out.

We have, in theory, a re-run of the World Cup final with Hugo Lloris in one goal and Emi Martinez down the other end trying to control his urge to sexualise his goalkeeper gloves. It is a nice idea but at some point he will regress, so he should just cut back on the sugar or something. It is a big game, we are going to stick to our game plan. I would argue Villa have the better pre-match jacket but I am open to persuasion. “Even before World Cup it became clear Arsenal will finish ahead and to be honest, it hurts but it is what it is. Watkins and Bissouma go for the same ball on the edge of the Villa box. 16 mins: Doherty chests down a crossfield pass but runs straight into Digne, causing the Spurs man to go down. A ball is played over for Perisic to latch onto; he forces Olsen out of his net and crosses to Kane at the back post to nod at the goalkeeper-less goal, only for Young to dive to his right to head clear. 20 mins: Son runs back and makes a tackle after losing the ball. Romero is back (and in the book). 49 mins: It is all Spurs in the opening few minutes. They seem quite happy to let Spurs have possession and pass the ball side to side.

The first Premier League game of 2023 takes place in north London today as Tottenham host Aston Villa. After a frantic set of New Year's Eve fixtures, ...

[Spurs](/topic/spurs) chairman Daniel Levy rang out and it could have got worse as Villa sauntered to only a third win in their last 22 Premier League clashes with the Londoners. And when Luiz added a second in the 73rd minute, home fans began streaming towards the exits. Antonio Conte's lacklustre side were devoid of inspiration throughout the contest and were punished after the break by goals from Emiliano Buendia and Douglas Luiz.