Tottenham open up with banana-skin Aston Villa

Following the heartbreaking loss to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League final, Tottenham will pick themselves back up for the start of their English Premier League campaign as they face off against promoted Aston Villa at their new stadium.

Spurs are heavy favourites to begin the season with a win [$1.25], however they will have to be wary of an Aston Villa [$9] squad full of new signings - who will consider a point in London a good result [$6].

The Villans have won just one of their last 17 competitive meetings with Spurs [W1 D3 L13]; this coming in a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane in April 2015 thanks to a first-half Christian Benteke goal.

Tottenham have been going through a rough patch of their own that was overshadowed with the dream Champions League run. Mauricio Pochettino's team have lost 13 of their 29 games in all competitions so far in 2019, more than any other current Premier League side [W14 D2]. They last suffered more defeats in a single calendar year in 2014 [16].

Harry Kane will be relishing this game as he has scored four goals in five Premier League appearances against Aston Villa, including two goals in their last such meeting: a 2-0 win for Spurs at Villa Park in March 2016. Unsurprisingly, Kane is the favourite to score opening goal of the match [$3.20].

Villa manager Dean Smith has spent big money in trying to prepare his side for the relentlessness of the English top flight. On the offensive side, they have brought in Wesley from Club Brugge in Belgium to lead the lines, as well as Mahmoud Hasan, better known as Trezeguet. Wesley is priced at [$5.50] to score at any time, while his Egyptian team-mate is at $7.

However, it’s hard to see Aston Villa having enough strike power to get the ball into the net in their opening fixture. Tottenham’s solid centre-back duo of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen have been retained, and they will be looking to start the season off with a clean sheet which is currently at odds of $1.80.

Odds correct at the time of publish. Please gamble responsibly. Check out the latest football odds at Sportsbet.