FA Cup Third Round Preview 2025/26

FA Cup preview Tottenham v Aston Villa

A draw against opponents who have already won at Spurs this season would not have been on Tottenham manager Thomas Frank’s FA Cup third round wishlist, and the Premier League languishers are going to have to buck form if they are to secure their first win of 2026 at the fourth attempt.

A 3-2 95th-minute defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday was compounded by PR misery for Frank when he was pictured enjoying a pre-match drink from an Arsenal-branded mug. A victory over the third-placed team in the top flight would be refreshingly more palatable for the second seed who would become the division’s next coach to leave his post.

“Villa is a very good flying team,” Frank said, calling the competition “a good opportunity to progress.”

“The FA Cup is very important for the club, for the supporters. We’ve won it eight times. I’m working hard with the staff, with the players, with the management. It’s just a difficult time. We’ll get there.”

Villa would be second in the league and four points behind leaders Arsenal if Ollie Watkins had hit the net rather than a post in their 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

The victory would also have been revenge for their 3-0 defeat to the Eagles in the FA Cup semi-final last season, when their run included a 2-1 home win over Spurs in the fourth round.

“We are away and traveling again, but we accept it,” manager Unai Emery said. “Last year we played in the semi-final. I hope we can repeat that.

“It was a fantastic response from the players against Crystal Palace. We won a lot of games and the way we competed was really fantastic.”

FA Cup Third Round 2025: Tottenham vs Aston Villa team news

Striker Dominic Solanke (ankle) and defenders Destiny Udogie and Kota Takai (both hamstring) remain out for Tottenham, as do midfielders James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski with knee injuries.

Mohammed Kudus and Rodrigo Bentancur also have hamstring problems. Fellow midfielder Lucas Bergvall is doubtful, having joined Bentancur in leaving through injury at Bournemouth.

Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma and his Senegalese counterpart Pape Matar Sarr are part of their countries’ squads for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Defender Pau Torres returned from a calf problem as Villa’s unused substitute at Palace, but centre-back Tyrone Mings (hamstring) missed again.

Midfielder Ross Barkley is expected to be out until February with a knee problem. Amadou Onana is injured in his hamstring and striker Evann Guessand is in the CAN quarter-finals with Ivory Coast.

Tottenham vs Aston Villa predicted FA Cup line-ups

Tottenham starting lineup: Guglielmo Vicario, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Djed Spence, Lucas Bergvall, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons, Archie Gray, Randal Kolo Muani, Richarlison

Aston Villa from eleven: Matty, John McGinn, John McGinn, Bookkar House, you

How to watch Spurs v Villa: FA Cup TV channel, live stream online

Kick-off on Saturday will be at 5:45 p.m. GMT (12:45 p.m. ET / 9:45 a.m. PT). Live TV coverage in the UK is provided on BBC One, TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 9 and TNT Sports Ultimate.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 per month via discovery+which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a huge range of devices including smart TVs and games consoles.

Live online streaming is available on a wide range of devices via BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the Discovery+ app.

Tottenham vs Villa FA Cup 2025/26 Statistics

• Tottenham have lost two of their last three FA Cup matches against Villa
• The last team to knock Spurs out of the FA Cup in consecutive seasons was Manchester United in 2007/08 and 2008/09.
• Spurs have progressed in 18 of their last 19 FA Cup third round matches, and have done so in each of the last 11 campaigns since a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in 2013/14.
• Only bottom-placed Wolves (1) have won fewer Premier League home games this season than Tottenham (2).
• No team outside the relegation zone in the division averages fewer points per home game (0.9)
• As a top team, the last team Villa Norwich City were beaten twice away in a single campaign in 2012/12.
• The Villans have won their last two FA Cup third round matches, having been eliminated at this stage in each of the previous seven campaigns.
• Morgan Rogers was involved in five goals in four matches against Tottenham in all competitions (3 goals, 2 assists), scoring and assisting in Villa’s 2–1 win against them in FA Cup last season and scoring in their 2-1 league win over Spurs on October 19
• Only Arsenal (2) have lost fewer away games in the Premier League this season than Villa (3).
• They have won three of their last four visits to Tottenhamscoring twice in each of those victories. Rogers gave them the lead in their only loss in the streak, succumbing 4-1 in November 2024.