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Five straight defeats without scoring a goal means Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert needs to switch it up. Lately, Villa have been both predictable and ineffective. Sure, as fans we think the team is more likely to score now that striker Christian Benteke is back, but he's been quite rusty and probably just needs a goal to get back in form. If Villa didn't have such horrible recent history against Tottenham Hotspur, this would be a great chance for him to get back firing.
A couple years ago, Alex McLeish lined up six defenders against Spurs. That ended in a 4-0 defeat. Alan Hutton played on the right, he is unavailable this week again, and Matt Lowton will probably retain his place at right back. I decided to go with a 4-1-4-1 for Villa, with Jack Grealish and Charles N'Zogbia into the side for Gabby Agbonlahor and Andi Weimann to get some flair into the side. I kept the 4-2-3-1 Spurs used last time out, in a 2-1 defeat against Newcastle in a match where they dominated the first half, but gave up two goals in the second half and didn't look like the same team at all.
If Villa want to get anything from this match, the backline is going to have to rediscover their early season form. If not, it could be another long day.
Possible Lineups:
What would you go with? Let us know in the comments!
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