Aston Villa v Spurs Premier League injury news as eight ruled out and two doubts

Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa and Spurs meet at Villa Park in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

It's fourth against fifth as Villa who hold a five-point lead but have played a game more meet Tottenham Hotspur who are on 50 points. Spurs go in to the match having trained all week in the North London training base after failing to qualify for Europe last season. Villa on the other hand were held to a goalless draw by Ajax in the Europa Conference League on Thursday with Ezri Konsa sent off.

Villa have won their last three league meetings against Spurs and inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them in November with Pau Torres and ollie Watkins on the scoresheet. A victory for Unai Emery's side would go a considerable way in their quest to secure their place at European football's top table. Here's the latest injury and team news ahead of the clash.

Aston Villa team news

Pau Torres will be available for Villa despite initial fears after he was substituted in the goalless draw with Ajax on Saturday. He was replaced by Matty Cash, prompting Ezri Konsa to move in to the middle.

"Pau Torres, he had a small injury two weeks ago and didn't play the last match at Luton – he was on the bench," said Emery in an update.

"We did a plan with him," Emery revealed in the post-match press conference.

"Of course, the plan before the match is not always 100 per cent sure, but even like that I think tactically we needed to change something. We did it as the plan was, more or less, to play 45 minutes with Pau Torres."

Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings are all long-term absentees and are expected to be out for the remainder of the campaign. Buendia and Mings have both been working towards a return having both suffered their injuries in August, whilst Kamara's happened in February, and so he has a longer road to recovery.

Jacob Ramsey has a foot injury that was reported last week. He has not played for the past two games but fortunately the injury doesnt't seem to be serious, having previously been out for a couple of months with a foot issue.

Asked in his pre-match press conference ahead of Ajax, Emery said: "He is not with a big injury, but we have to wait every day how he is progressing to be available for the next match on Sunday. The good news is it is not an important injury.”

Jhon Duran is another absentee, and has a thigh issue which has had him sidelined since the end of January. He's unlikely to return at the weekend but could return for the second leg against Ajax next week or for their final Premier League match before the international break. Diego Carlos was named amongst the substitutes against Ajax having missed the last three matches.

Out: Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey, Jhon Duran and Tyrone Mings.

Spurs team news

Ryan Sessegnon is expected to miss the remainder of the campaign after undergoing surgery on his hamstring. He has been limited to just a few minutes of action at senior level and will have to write this current campaign off so he can work towards making a return next season.

Manor Solomon required a further procedure on his knee and isn't expected to return until the end of March. The left-winger has been sidelined since September.

Goalkeeper Fraser Forster suffered a fracture in his foot and will be out for a couple of months with a return at the end of April or early May his timeline for a return. Pedro Porro and Richarlison could both be in line to return this weekend. Right-back Porro has missed the last three games with a strain whilst Richarlison has had a knee injury that ruled him out against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Out: Fraser Forster, Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon. Doubt: Pedro Porro and Richarlison.