Good morning and welcome to football.london's live coverage of Tottenham's clash with Aston Villa in the Premier League.
After a month-long break for the World Cup in Qatar, Spurs returned to action on Boxing Day with a draw away at Brentford. Antonio Conte's men had to come from 2-0 down, as is becoming the new norm, to pick up a 2-2 draw against the Bees.
Harry Kane banished the memories of his penalty miss for England at the World Cup to score, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg bagging the other. And Conte will be looking to see his side pick up three points at home to get back into the top four.
Spurs slipped out of the Champions League places on Saturday after Manchester United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers. But Spurs can leapfrog them and go just a point behind third-place Newcastle with a win.
Alasdair Gold is live at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for today's clash and you can follow all the action right here.
Key Events
Spurs player ratings
Take a look at Alasdair Gold's Tottenham Hotspur player ratings after their 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League on New Year's Day.
Read more here.
More Spurs changes
Sarr and Emerson replace Bissouma and Doherty. Some boos for the latter substitution.
Luiz scores
Villa score again and it's a well worked goal after Kane lost the ball. McGinn picks out Luiz with a incisive pass and he tucks it past Lloris.
Kane opportunity
Son heads on the ball for Kane to hook it wide just inside the Villa box.
Suspension incoming
That's a fifth booking of the season for Yves Bissouma as he labours to get back and makes a late lunge. So he'll miss the match at Palace.
Spurs chance
Good chance for Perisic. Bissouma flights a cross in and the Croatian touches it on but then slices his effort over the crossbar.
Villa score
It's now 10 games in a row that Spurs have conceded first. Lloris spills a central Luiz shot and it falls to Watkins who tees up Buendia to score.
Here are Alasdair's thoughts on that first half from Spurs
Another sluggish first half to add to the big collection for Tottenham this season as their first effort on goal did not arrive until the 39th minute.
That came when Clement Lenglet found Ivan Perisic with a through ball and the Croatian chipped in a cross that Harry Kane headed towards goal, only for Ashley Young to head off the line.
That sparked a brief spell at the end of the 45 minutes where Spurs looked threatening but for too long the home side huffed and puffed without much attacking flair at all.
Bryan Gil has worked hard without producing too much quality other than one early link-up with Matt Doherty. Son Heung-min has tried to make things happen but continues to lose the ball in dangerous situations, one time prompting him to take off his protective mask and throw it off the pitch.
Kane has barely touched the ball other than that header late on and he needs to get more involved in the game as Tottenham need his creativity.
At the other end all three of Spurs' centre-backs have picked up a yellow card which will make the second half a fraught one.
The scoreline is progress at least as it's the first time Spurs have not conceded and been behind in the first half since mid-October in the Premier League.
They need to find more going forward though and it's not likely to come from that weakened bench.
Half-time
It's goalless at the break as the whistle brings with it a smattering of boos from the crowd.
Almost
Good football from Spurs almost carves out a chance but Son's pass to Kane is just too heavy. Feels like Spurs are finally finding some momentum though late in the half.
Off the line
First real chance for Spurs 39 minutes in as Lenglet plays a ball through to Perisic and he floats in a cross that Kane heads towards goal but Young heads it off the line.
Another booking
All of Tottenham's back three now have a yellow card as Davies picks one up for a challenge on Young. The Spurs fans are not happy with the referee.
Yellow card
Yellow card for Romero for a tackle where he wins the ball. The referee didn't like the scissors motion of it it would seem.
Son's mask is gone
Son has taken off his mask and chucked it off the pitch after getting caught in possession. A member of the club staff has come to collect it.
Good football
Lovely bit of football. Bryan Gil turns his man well, plays in Matt Doherty who nutmegs Mings but is tackled at the last moment in front of goal.
Romero is back
Cristian Romero has started the game brightly, challenging high up the pitch and making his presence felt.
Here are Alasdair's thoughts on that Spurs line-up
It's a blow for Antonio Conte to lose such a key player again in Dejan Kulusevski and although Bryan Gil gets his long awaited chance to start a Premier League match, that bench shows the problems the Spurs boss faces.
It is a bench without any natural attacking options with wing-back Ryan Sessegnon the only player known for playing further up the pitch, but there is no striker option there for Conte to call upon.
With Lucas Moura and Richarlison out injured, that bench shows exactly why Tottenham are looking for a new attacking player and why they need at least one.
Kulusevski is having a scan on his slight muscle injury tomorrow and Conte is hopeful that he will only miss the one game.
The other big news is Eric Dier being bench after another shaky display which gives us our first look at the returning Cristian Romero, Clement Lenglet and Ben Davies as a unit together with captain Hugo Lloris back behind them.
Yves Bissouma gets another chance in Rodrigo Bentancur's absence and he needs to show more of the player he was at Brighton.
Conte needs Son Heung-min to ignite again alongside Kane and add to that one Premier League match he has scored in so far this season. When Son plays well so invariably do Tottenham.
Kulusevski
Here's the full story on Dejan Kulusevski's absence from the Tottenham squad today.
Latest odds
Here are today's matchday odds, thanks to Betfair...
Tottenham to win 4/6
The draw 29/10
Aston Villa to win 4/1
No Kulusevski
Dejan Kulusevski is not in today's matchday squad...despite being pictured entering the stadium.
That's because he has a slight muscle injury.
Full story with Alasdair Gold to come shortly.
Confirmed team news
Here's your confirmed team for today's game.
Romero starts, Dier benched, and a start for Bryan Gil!
Five minutes
We're only five minutes away from team news at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Who are you hoping to see in Conte's starting XI?
A welcome return
Cristian Romero is back in the Spurs squad today.
The official Spurs Twitter account has a new header - a picture of Romero kissing the World Cup trophy - and the admin have delivered the early team news with a simple tweet.
How to watch
If you haven't been able to get tickets to today's game, or just couldn't go on New Year's Dayh for whatever reason, we've got you covered.
We've got all the news and latest score updates as they happen right here, but if you do have access to a TV, here's how you can tune into today's clash.
