TEAM NEWS
Tottenham are expected to reinstate Brad Friedel in goal as Hugo Lloris's Premier League debut remains on hold.
Sandro and William Gallas look set to be recalled but Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) is still missing.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert must decide whether to start Darren Bent against ex-club Spurs after he rescued a point from the bench last week.
Richard Dunne (groin) and Stephen Ireland (broken arm) remain Villa's most high-profile absentees.
MATCH PREVIEW
By their own manager's admission,Tottenham were a bit sloppy in dropping two points away to Panathinaikos in the Europa League on Thursday - but they remain unbeaten since their season opener at Saudi Sportswashing Machine and are just a week removed from their first win at Old Trafford since the late 1980s. It was a marked change seeing Spurs put out such a strong team away in Europe at this stage of the competition, so all the more galling for Andre Villas-Boas that they didn't put the game to bed when they had the chance.
The Premier League is the priority though and Tottenham have a good record against Aston Villa of late. The West Midlands club haven't fared terribly well at White Hart Lane in recent years, winning on only one of their last dozen visits in the league; a 2-1 victory in September 2008 in which current Villa striker Darren Bent scored for Spurs. I remember the previous year was an absolute humdinger of a game, with Villa racing into a 4-1 lead, only for Tottenham to eventually draw the match 4-4 with a last-gasp equaliser from Younes Kaboul on the night the club were celebrating their 125th anniversary.
A win for Tottenham would be their fourth league success in a row, after their 3-1 cruise at Reading, 2-1 home win over QPR and last week's 3-2 victory at Manchester United. Despite dropping home points in 1-1 draws against both West Brom and Norwich, Villas-Boas' men remain unbeaten at White Hart Lane this season.
A note of caution for Spurs fans however - it was new Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert who was the most recent visiting manager to leave White Hart Lane with all three points, having done so while in charge of Norwich last season. His then-Canaries side were 2-1 winners back in April.
I saw Villa in the flesh for the first time this season last Sunday as they played out a 1-1 draw with local rivals West Brom and thought they played reasonably well. It might continue to be a rollercoaster for them at times this campaign, but already it looks like this predominantly youthful, rebuilt team are making progress under Lambert and have a bit more cohesion and adventure about them.
It'll be interesting to see which Villa team turns up. The one that played well for a draw at Saudi Sportswashing Machine and beat Swansea at home, the one that capitulated at Southampton and conceded four in the second half, or the side that stuck four past Emirates Marketing Project a few days later at the Etihad Stadium, knocking them out of the League Cup.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Tottenham are unbeaten in their last seven league matches against Aston Villa.
The Villans have won just four times in 20 Premier League visits to White Hart Lane.
The two clubs have met only once on this date before, Villa winning 2-0 in a home top-flight match 90 years ago.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs are unbeaten in all competitions since the opening day of the season, a run of eight games (W4, D4).
Tottenham have scored in each of their last 27 Premier League home matches, since a goalless draw with West Ham in March 2011.
Emmanuel Adebayor has fired six goals in eight Premier League starts against Aston Villa, including four goals in his last three games.
No outfield player has played more Premier League minutes in 2012 than Kyle Walker (2,285 mins) going into this round of league games.
Aston Villa
Villa have only won three of their past 25 matches in the Premier League.
The club have picked up five points - their lowest points total at this stage since 1986-87 (three points), when they went on to finish bottom of a 22-club top flight.
Villa have conceded 10 goals in their first six Premier League matches this season, twice as many as they had at this stage last season.