Aston Villa v Tottenham preview

Aston Villa are sitting precariously close to the Premier League relegation places and they face a tough challenge getting anything out of a Spurs side impressing so far this season.

The home side helped take some pressure off under-fire manager Gerard Houllier when they beat West Brom last time out, but they lost the opportunity to gain some momentum off the back of that result when their match with Wigan was postponed last weekend.

That win was their first in six matches, but they now come up against a Spurs side who are unbeaten in their last eight, 7/5 to beat Villa, and looking to get back into the Premier League top four.

It must be worrying for Villa fans that their side has not kept a clean sheet in seven Premier League games – and now they come up against a Spurs team boasting the attacking threat of Jermain Defoe and the now-recovered from injury Rafael van der Vaart.

Add into the mix the flying wingers of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon and Villa's injury-hit side could be stretched across the park.

Spurs have not lost in their last four games with their Boxing Day opponents and that record does not seem like ending given the recent form of the two teams. The home side are outsiders at 11/5 to win the game.

Houllier, who is still under some considerable pressure having failed to get any consistency during his time at Villa, is without captain Stiliyan Petrov and both Luke Young and Gabreial Agbonlahor are struggling with a groin strain and illness respectively.

For Spurs William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas and Niko Kranjcar are out, but the return of van der Vaart, who is 11/2 to score the first goal, is a massive boost for the club.

The wrong set of results could leave Villa only one point above the relegation places come the end of this round of games. Houllier needs his side to step up and show their battling qualities if they want to climb the Premier League and get back to the position they think they deserve to be at.