Aston Villa vs. Tottenham: Predicted lineups, team news and FA Cup score prediction

Despite their recent — admittedly shocking — loss to Wolves in the Premier League last weekend, Unai Emery's Aston Villa have, to this point, put together another impressive season. Not only do they remain within striking distance of the top four in England, but they've outperformed even Manchester City in the Champions League as well, automatically qualifying for the round of 16.

A lot of this has to do with the addition of Amadou Onana to the squad. The Belgian international always looked promising during his time with Everton but was mostly resigned to doing clean-up duty and grafting to control a midfield unit that, through no fault of his own, couldn't keep up. Since pulling on a Villa shirt, he's proven to be more than just an excellent sentry ahead of the defensive line — adding four goals to the Villans' season tally and arcing line-breaking through balls with pinpoint accuracy to the likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, and — until recently — Jhon Durán.

While the latter has departed for the Saudi Pro League, Onana and Villa have added a new blockbuster attacking threat this week in the form of Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United.

Make no mistake, while Rashford hasn't been at his on-pitch best in some time, he's still a serious baller with the ability to find form and show up when it matters. Under the tutelage of Unai Emery, he may soon be causing United manager Ruben Amorim to regret sending him away. The situation with Rashford feels quite similar to that of Jesse Lingard — he too was outcast from Manchester United, in his case via a loan spell to West Ham. Once landing in London, Lingard promptly notched nine goals in 16 appearances and led the Hammers into a new era.

Sunday's match versus Tottenham in the FA Cup is an excellent chance for Rashford's own rebirth to begin.

Can Tottenham find some redemption?

Tottenham Hotspur's season has been incredibly hot and cold — but mostly cold. While playstyle surely has something to do with it, we shouldn't overlook the damage that injury has done to Ange Postecoglou's squad. They've been plagued by misfortune, in that respect, in every area of the pitch. It seems as soon as one player returns to full fitness another two fall in response.

But despite this adversity, Postecoglou remains confident. While Liverpool fans sang of his imminent sacking, the manager doesn't seem particularly concerned. It appears that the Spurs organization remains faithful in Postecoglou's mission and he, in turn, is confident in its development. On the subject of new loan signing Mathys Tel, Big Ange made clear that he intends to sign the French forward on a permanent basis, and is planning Spurs' future with that in mind.

But soccer is a results business. And in the short term, Tottenham need results. Spurs' recent success over Brentford in the Premier League is their only win in five games — earning them three points out of a possible 15. Moreover, their 1-0 advantage going into the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final versus Liverpool was decimated on Thursday, the Reds leaving Anfield with a 4-1 victory on aggregate.

They've still got the Europa League to play for, in which their standing is quite good. But domestically, their only hope of "getting something" out of this season is now the FA Cup. Come Monday morning, it's hard to imagine them with even that hope left.

Aston Villa vs. Tottenham news, predicted lineup and score

Aston Villa have a number of players nearing return, including Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins, and Ross Barkley. It could be close, but given Emery's comments it wouldn't be surprising to see one or two of them make a cameo on Sunday. Pau Torres and Matty Cash are expected to be sidelined for at least a few more weeks.

Among Tottenham's lengthy injury list — including Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero, Wilson Odobert, Radu Drăgușin, and Micky van de Ven — is James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, Timo Werner, and Brennan Johnson, all of whom are listed as "maybes" for the match against Villa.

Aston Villa predicted line up: Martínez, García, Konsa, Kamara, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, Malen, Malen, Rogers, Rashford

Tottenham predicted line up: Kinský, Porro, Gray, Davies, Spence, Bergvall, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Tel, Son

Predicted Score: Aston Villa 1-1 Tottenham, Villa win on penalties

How to watch Aston Villa vs. Tottenham

• Date: Sunday, Feb. 9
• Start Time: 12:35 p.m. EST
• Location: Villa Park — Birmingham, England
• Watch: ESPN+

Kickoff for the match is 12:35 p.m. ET, on Sunday, Feb. 9. The game will be streaming exclusively on ESPN+.