Aston Villa v Tottenham: Premier League – live!

69 min: “The keeper got his Engels all wrong,” emails Andrew Champney. Keep ‘em coming. Meanwhile, back to the action …

68 min: Kortney Hause keeps another Villa corner alive before Sanchez wellies it clear. Spurs clear their lines and Trezeguet replaces Anwar El Ghazi.

64 min: Grealish’s corner drops at the far post, where Villa are queuing up. Spurs’ marking is selective at best. Engels gets something on it before El Ghazi nods at goal. Lloris clambers down to his right to scoop it up. Spurs have been all at sea defensively, as have Villa. That ensures plenty of fun, if nothing else.

63 min: Grealish buys a corner out of Alderweireld …

61 min: Another chance goes begging for Spurs. Moura makes inroads down the right flank, driving inside before passing the baton over to Son. He steadies himself inside the box but his effort is tame, too central and comfortably gathered by Reina. Son slaps his thighs in frustration. Villa look dodgy in defence.

60 min: Giovani Lo Celso replaces Dier.

59 min: Bergwijn sends a rasping strike at Pepe Reina! The Dutchman has been lively for Spurs, who have not exactly struggled to carve out chances. Reina calmly collects. Meanwhile, Marvelous Nakamba replaces Drinkwater, who has been below par.

57 min: Engels off the Marx, says quick-witted colleague Tom Bryant. I’m loving Engels instead etc etc. Any more for any more?

55 min: But back come Spurs – they could have scored a tonne on another day. Winks whips in a dangerous cross towards the back post, where Dele Alli is lurking. Alli nods the ball into the path of Eric Dier but Villa manage to intervene before its too late. Douglas Luiz was guilty of switching off, but Villa survive and clear.

And now Engels redeems himself. Grealish’s corner spins into the six-yard box and Engels rises above Alderweireld to nod in. That was oh so easy. Villa Park inevitably erupts.

51 min: El Ghazi stings the palms of Lloris! The Spurs goalkeeper is called into action after El Ghazi lets rip inside the box, latching on to a clever knockdown by Samatta, who has proved a handful for the Spurs defence. There’s at least a goal in this.

49 min: Spurs break, Son tries to wriggle free and get a shot away but his indecision allows Villa to get bodies back behind the ball. Bang, and the

dirt
chance is gone.

48 min: “Wonderfully entertaining game of football so far, with composure nowhere to be seen,” tweets Bobby Moore. “Reina, who won a few shootouts in his Liverpool days, was rightly furious that there were only white shirts chasing the penalty rebound. Looking forward to more fun in the second half.”

47 min: The second half starts similarly to the first, with Grealish floored by a crude Moura challenge. Moura is booked for chopping down the Villa captain but Spurs steamroller forward on the counterattack. Bergwijn brushes off Danny Drinkwater and surges downfield to bear down on Pepe Reina. Guilbert ends up making a crucial interception. Spurs look lethal in the transition.

46 min: Douglas Luiz gets us back started.

Earlier Celtic moved 13 points clear at the top:

Some red-hot action to be abreast of:

Son gives Spurs the lead on the brink of the interval. Toby Alderweireld made amends for an early own goal by smashing in an equaliser and Spurs had been knocking on the door ever since. Into three minutes of first-half stoppage time, Son stepped up to take a penalty after Engels was adjudged to have played the man and not the ball when he went to ground on Bergwijn.

Pepe Reina saves the initial penalty low down to his right but Son pokes in the rebound from close range. Reina is livid at the lack of Villa helping hands, with Son and Alli charging into the box to feed on any rebounds. In the end Son is the beneficiary, nudging home after his spot-kick was saved.

45 min: Penalty to Tottenham! Engels is penalised. “It’s not football anymore,” is the chant from unhappy Villa fans. Son will take …

44 min: Engels slides in on Bergwijn, but the Villa defender appears to make precious little contact with the ball. VAR check …

41 min: Spurs are denied again! Dele Alli and Steven Bergwijn go close, and now it is Villa that are very much on the ropes. Alli tamely passes the ball at Hause after latching on to a low cross by Davies and then Bergwijn attempts to slam home the rebound from close range. There is a VAR check to assess whether Bjorn Engels handled Bergwijn’s volley but the Villa defender is not penalised. In the end Harry Winks scoops over from outside the box. A flurry of opportunities, but Spurs fail to find the net.

38 min: Lloris makes a wild, and slightly erratic, save from El Ghazi! The Villa man tried his luck from distance and Lloris seemed caught in two minds but shoves the ball to safety. Spurs look mustard on the counter, but not much cop in defence.

36 min: Spurs should take the lead! Villa are caught ball-watching and Dele Alli picks up a wonderful hooked pass by Son out on the right flank. Alli gallops into acres of space behind the Villa back line and tries, with the outside of his right boot, to beat Pepe Reina. Alli may have been better off trying to locate a team-mate, or perhaps going for a more routine finish. Nice try nevertheless.

33 min: Spurs jet up the other end on the counterattack but Kortney Hause makes a thudding block to deny Lucas Moura taking aim. Brilliant defending, but another reminder of Tottenham’s threat on the break.

32 min: Hugo Lloris makes a meal of a corner, eventually clawing the ball to safety after Eric Dier nodded the ball high into the air in the six-yard box! Davinson Sanchez had cut out a delicious ball into the box by Matt Targett and Villa know they can get at this Spurs defence, which has been unconvincing at best.

30 min: “Football is so cruel,” emails Mary Waltz. “Villa completely dominate the first 27 minutes and against the run of play we are all even.” A half-decent summary of events at Villa Park. It has been lively, that’s for sure.

29 min: “You’re going down with the West Ham,” sing the Spurs fans.

Redemption for the Spurs defender – and what a sweet strike. Alderweireld nonchalantly swivels in the box after picking up the scraps of a corner and coolly thrashes the ball into the roof of the Villa net. The ball pinballs around in the box and Alderweireld slams home. Spurs have been dire defensively but they have looked a threat at the other end. Matt Targett did brilliantly to intercept a slick move, nicking the ball away from Aurier but Spurs strike from the subsequent corner.

24 min: Eric Dier erupts, up in arms at the state of the Spurs defending! His team is being run ragged, particularly by Jack Grealish. This time Matt Targett nudges the ball into the path of Grealish, who is played onside. Grealish unselfishly tries to pull the ball back for Samatta, but Dier intervenes. What a mess.

22 min: Samatta goes close! Villa play some neat triangles down the right flank and a crisp move culminates with El Ghazi delivering a wonderful ball into Hugo Lloris’s front post. Tottenham are caught cold but Samatta is alert to it and gets across Davinson Sanchez to connect. But Sanchez eventually does just enough.

20 min: Spurs recover from that shambles by countering at speed, with Bergwijn serving up a delicious cross towards the back post. Alli bursts into the box and attempts a diving header – but it drops off target. Alderweireld, meanwhile, requires some treatment after getting caught up in that defensive chaos a moment ago.

18 min: A mammoth block by Ben Davies denies Villa a second! Magnificent work by Grealish, who effortlessly carries the ball upfield down the left. Grealish rolls the ball across the six-yard box where Villa are queuing up. Douglas Luiz is among those lurking towards the far post and Douglas Luiz smacks the ball goalwards. Davies – somehow – gets rid. Spurs are at sixes and sevens defensively.

17 min: Lucas Moura is invited to shoot on the edge of the box, with Engels backing off in the Villa defence. Moura arrows a shot a couple of yards wide.

14 min: Kortney Hause makes a timely block to deny Dele Alli! Spurs seize possession after El Ghazi’s pass is loose and Lucas Moura had weaved his way through before laying the ball off to Alli inside the box. Alli did everything right, steering the ball across goal – but there was Hause to intervene.

13 min: Aurier gives away another free-kick, again giving Grealish an unceremonious bump. But somehow the Spurs defender avoids a booking. The free-kick comes to nothing but Spurs are rattled.

11 min: Trademark Grealish as the Villa skipper cuts inside on to his right foot and lashes a curling effort towards the far corner. Narrowly wide. That own goal has really revved up the hosts and deflated the visitors. Spurs are all over the place at the back.

Alderweireld gets his bearings all wrong, making a mess of an El Ghazi cross from the right and inadvertently prods the ball beyond Hugo Lloris. El Ghazi easily eluded his marker, Ben Davies, raced towards the byline before whipping in a lovely curling cross from the right. The bouncing ball flummoxed Alderweireld, who was busy keeping Samatta at bay. But in the end the Spurs defender does the Villa’s striker’s work for him.

6 min: Douglas Luiz inadvertently stands on Moura’s hand and, moments later, we have round two of Aurier v Grealish. Aurier left a little on the Villa captain. That ticking off by Martin Atkinson seems to resemble something of a final warning.

5 min: Anwar El Ghazi takes. It curls a yard or two over Lloris’s goal.

3 min: Villa pour forward down the right through Samatta but Martin Atkinson is alerted to Serge Aurier crudely getting to grips with Jack Grealish on the opposite flank. After a quick whinge and moan, Villa earn a free-kick 25 yards from goal …

1 min: Ezri Konsa makes a meaty but fair challenge on Son as the Spurs forward tries to break forward. The Tottenham man requires some early treatment but is soon back on his feet, shaking his head in the direction of the Villa defender.

Dele Alli gets the ball rolling at Villa Park.

Room for one more. “There’s a negotiating technique where you try to consciously mirror the other person’s mannerisms, but I fear Mourinho has taken things a bit too far in his quest to have Levy spend more money on transfers,” emails Gustav Björklund. We’re about to get under way in the west Midlands …

Dean Smith talks about Mings’s absence. “It’s a blow because he is a very good player for us and he is adapted really well to the Premier League but he was ill yesterday so we knew he would be missing,” Smith says. “We’ve got Bjorn Engels who has recently been called up by Belgium so we have strength in depth in that area. Time will tell if he [Mings] is missed or not. We’ve had a half-decent season so far, we have had a big turnaround of personnel and I feel we’re getting better now.” Asked about picking assistant John Terry’s brains for tips on how to get one over on José, the Villa head coach adds: “I’ve been leaning on his knowledge for the last 18 months, but he certainly knows what makes José tick.”

More from Mourinho. “We recovered [Ben] Davies, who played with me just one match,” he says of the boon of the winter break. “[Giovani] Lo Celso is not ready to start the game but ready to help. [Steven] Bergwijn could not play in the cup replay but no problem from now so we have some more options. Other guys have had the opportunity to play but Ben is a proper left-back in his way of playing and I think we need him. In this moment we have more options than before going into a very difficult period where we play three different competitions at the same time. Next week hopefully we will have [Érik] Lamela back, and then we will have only [Moussa] Sissoko and [Harry] Kane in the injury list.”

Twenty minutes until kick-off, so now is as good as time as any to address the big talking point: José Mourinho’s hair, or lack of. “The reason behind the haircut is the barber was bad!” the Tottenham Hotspur manager said. “He did a bad job and when I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked at him and said ‘come on, bring out the [number] one and shave it.’ I know it will take a little longer but it will grow and come back to normality.”

Pepe Reina is again between the sticks for Villa but Tom Heaton, who is out for the season with a knee injury, has been talking candidly to the BBC about the pressure that comes with pulling on an England shirt. “When you’re England’s number one, you’re held to a different standard to the other keepers,” he says. “When you’re a striker, if you miss three chances but score a goal then everyone says how good the goal was. When you’re a keeper, you can make three world-class saves and let one in, and that’s what they’ll talk about. It comes with the territory, it’s no surprise when that scrutiny comes when you’re England’s number one. Pickford knows that, he’s aware of it and he’ll be able to deal with it.”

Dean Smith has had his two pennies’ worth on the winter break, and reckons it might have revitalised Villa. “It’s a tough league, one in which it is difficult to build consistency because of the quality of the other teams in there, but I feel we’ve just started to build that consistency,” he says. “As everybody knows, we had a big turnaround [of players] in the summer and they’re starting to gel. For the first time we’ve had a mini break and we’ve seen a positive side to it. It gave everybody a chance to have some time away from the place, and to clear their heads.”

Essential pre-match reading:

When I heard Appie [Nouri] had brain damage, I just can’t describe my feelings. At that time I didn’t sleep so much. In the first weeks I was scared to play, scared to go on the pitch because Appie was a young boy and out of nowhere … It was difficult. I speak to his brother every day but it’s still difficult.

We’re off to a good start. “Looking at that pic gracing the MBM has me wondering when the hell Dominic Cummings took over Spurs,” emails Speakeasy Ray. Any more for any more?

Team news news: Aston Villa’s frail defence will again be put under the spotlight, and they will have to cope without Tyrone Mings who is absent with tonsilitis, according to Sky. Bjorn Engels is promoted to the Villa starting lineup, while Danny Drinkwater also returns in place of Marvelous Nakamba. As for the visitors, Ben Davies returns to the Spurs starting XI, with the Wales defender making his first appearance since November after recovering from an ankle injury. Davies and Eric Dier both start as Giovani Lo Celso and Japhet Tanganga drop to the bench.

Aston Villa (3-4-3): Reina; Hause, Konsa, Engels; Guilbert, Douglas Luiz, Drinkwater, Targett; El Ghazi, Samatta, Grealish

Subs: Nyland, Elmohamady, Taylor, Nakamba, Hourihane, Trezeguet, Baston

Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies; Dier, Winks; Bergwijn, Alli, Son; Lucas Moura

Subs: Gazzaniga, Vertonghen, Tangana, Skipp, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Fernandes

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Tottenham travel to a rainsoaked Villa Park in search of enhancing their push for Champions League qualification. Spurs start the day in sixth, behind Sheffield United. Spurs have not exactly been swashbuckling under José Mourinho but they are picking up points – only Manchester City and Liverpool have yielded more since the Portuguese returned to work in Enfield. Now then, Storm Dennis has already put paid to Witton Station, meaning home and away fans have been piling in via Aston, and a few car parks are flooded but the game is set to go ahead as planned. Fittingly, Danny Drinkwater is set to return to the Villa squad, while the visitors are primed to welcome back Ben Davies and Giovani Lo Celso. Exhilarating fare is unlikely in such conditions but it will at least be entertaining and, if nothing else, expect riveting weather updates.

Kick-off: 2pm (GMT)