Match Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park

Whenever I talk about Spurs I always refer to how much I like Martin Jol as a manager. It's not just the British Bulldog look about him or the fact that if you put every Premiership manager on an island, Battle Royale style, Jol would probably be the only one to walk off; no, it's his no nonsense approach to football and what he's done at Spurs.

I like Spurs and I think they are quite similar to Villa in so much that they are very close to making it to the next level, which is European football every season. If they can do well this season and qualify for Europe again I think that's them as good as done; hopefully Villa can follow suit this term and be playing in Europe next.

The only worry I'd have if I was a Spurs fan is that Jol has been at the club nearly two years and you'd want to be a little higher than the 14th they currently sit and would certainly want more of a return than the one point a game that they've got at the moment.

This isn't a dig at Spurs but I'm just trying to think like a Spurs fan. Could it be that Jol has fallen into the trap of bringing in rather than developing what he's got and unbalancing the ship? Possibly but I'm not sure.

Now, enough praise for Spurs and a look at the match this Saturday. They come to Villa Park having lost their previous three away matches this season and conceding and average of two goals a game. Funny then that Villa have won all at home, also scoring two goals each game.

Aston Villa are probably without Thomas Sorensen, who despite picking up the nickname Sorryson the past couple of seasons has played some outstanding football in the seven games so far this season and he as good as put it down to the arrival of Martin O'Neill yesterday when he told us all he would have left if David O'Leary was still here.

It would be a blow to lose the Danish international but in reserve we have ex-Arsenal player Stuart Taylor who is a decent keeper and as long as he keeps his nerve will do well enough for me.

Luke Moore is out after travelling to the States this week to have his shoulder fixed by the same Doctor who looks after the Cleveland Browns but apart from those two Villa should be unchanged.

One day, we reckon Bouma will be fit again which will allow Gareth Barry the chance to move back to his favoured midfield position because despite all the calls for Barry to be back in the national setup he's not going to get in ahead of Cashley Cole or Wayne Bridge at left-back; he needs to be playing in midfield to show second choice Steve what he can do.

As Steven Gerrard told us recently in his recent autobiography 'that Gareth Barry is class' and I for one think he deserves his chance.

To the match prediction. I'm not 100% sure of how Spurs are going to line up but what I do know is that Villa Park is close to a sell out and Martin O'Neill will have the players up for this match.

Not meaning to be condescending but Spurs will pick up points away this season but I think they'll have to wait until Watford at the end of the month. Aston Villa will win this match; it won't be an easy match as Spurs will battle but I think the near sell out, confidence and momentum should be enough for Aston Villa to pick up three points; 1-0 to Villa.