Tottenham find themselves battling at the bottom of the table to survive in the Premier League, a position that naturally creates a bit of frustration, but even more so when the players don’t believe that they should be in this position.

This entitlement is one of the main reasons why Tottenham find themselves at risk of the drop; many of the players have long been checked out of the club, and this has resulted in Tottenham having a pretty healthy card and foul record in the Premier League.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side have collected 85 yellow cards in the Premier League this season (2.5 per game) - more than any other side in the division. Only Chelsea have picked up more red cards (7) than Tottenham (4) in the Premier League this season, too, so this is clearly a side that is struggling to manage the emotions of a relegation battle.

Tottenham have picked up 2+ cards in each of their last six head-to-head meetings against Aston Villa across all competitions, most recently committing 17 fouls and picking up three yellow cards in an FA Cup defeat at home to Unai Emery’s side.

Richarlison came off the bench in Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Wolves last time out, managing two shots - one of which led to Palhinha’s scrappy goal as De Zerbi’s side secured a crucial three points to keep their chances of survival in the Premier League alive.

Dominic Solanke went down injured in that game and is unlikely to feature again this season, leaving Richarlison as Tottenham’s main forward for the run-in. Richarlison has been in a relegation battle before, ensuring Everton’s safety a few seasons ago, so he’s got the perfect experience to lead this Tottenham side to safety following a disastrous campaign in which the Lilywhites have burned through two coaches.

Richarlison has netted nine goals across his 16 starts in the Premier League this season, achieving this tally from 50 shots overall (2.79 per 90), seeing 22 of these attempts find the target (1.23 per 90).

Only Ollie Watkins (11) has scored more goals in the Premier League for Aston Villa this season than Morgan Rogers (9). He’s bettered his goal tally from last season by one goal, while also improving his general shot output - making him a more reliable player to back to find the target than he was last season.

Rogers had four shots during the week as Villa fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest, seeing one of these attempts find the target. He’s taken 79 shots across his 34 starts in the Premier League this campaign (2.36 per 90), seeing 31 of these efforts find the target (0.93 per 90). 

Rogers also has an impressive record against Tottenham, having scored against the Lilywhites in the most recent head-to-head meeting between the sides from two shots on target, as Villa came away 2-1 winners over Tottenham in the FA Cup. He also scored in the league meeting between these sides in North London earlier in the season, and has scored against Tottenham in four of his last five games against the relegation-threatened side.

Tottenham have one of the most aggressive midfield set-ups in the Premier League. Without even looking at the underlying numbers, the likes of Gallagher, Bentancur, Palhinha, and Bissouma are all incredibly combative and will get sucked into challenges against the most fouled side in the Premier League over the last two seasons.

Those players also hint at where Tottenham have fallen short in their recruitment over recent seasons, partially explaining why they find themselves in their current predicament. All of those players are better at breaking up play than they are when in possession. They are all pretty good when out of possession, but Tottenham desperately lack a profile that can progress the play through the thirds.

Tielemans has won 33 fouls across his 18 starts in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 1.88 fouls won per 90. I’d expect this to rise given the aggressive nature of Tottenham’s midfield set-up - Tottenham committed 17 fouls in the most recent head-to-head clash between the sides in the FA Cup, and committed 11 fouls when the sides met in the Premier League earlier on in the campaign.

Richarlison has been pretty impressive for Tottenham this season, as impressive as a player can be for a side trying to avoid relegation, having registered 13 goal contributions across just 16 starts in the Premier League this season (9 goals, 4 assists). 

He came off the bench to assist Palhinha’s winner in Tottenham’s most recent Premier League game as they claimed a crucial 1-0 win over Wolves to keep their survival hopes alive. They’ll need to repeat that achievement again in the Midlands with West Ham and Leeds playing before them this week, while Forest take on Chelsea on Monday.

Richarlison notably has experience of being in a relegation battle, which is something that is missing when looking over the CVs of many of these Tottenham players. I remember him being brilliant in the final few weeks of the season for Everton as they clinched survival a few seasons ago, and I’m backing Richarlison to have a notable impact over the last few weeks of the season again, with Solanke sidelined for Tottenham at the moment.

I’ve been backing Konsa to win fouls all season, and occasionally have backed him to win 2+ fouls when the right situation develops. I think we’ll get that here with Konsa’s strong ability when it comes to winning fouls, boosted further by the aggressive nature of Kolo Muani and Richarlison.

Kolo Muani, in particular, has never quite managed to adapt to the Premier League. He’s trying to be physical, but the timing of his challenges is often way off, telling me that he can’t quite deal with the speed of the division, which is normal for a new signing trying to find his feet in the Premier League. 

This has resulted in Kolo Muani committing 37 fouls across his 18 starts in the Premier League (2.33 per 90). Tottenham committed 17 fouls when these sides last met, with Konsa being fouled once, and 11 fouls in the other meeting between the sides this season. Richarlison will also be a testing opponent for Konsa; he’s averaging 1.06 fouls committed per 90 in the Premier League this season.

Konsa has drawn 34 fouls across his 32 starts in the Premier League this season. There aren’t many better centre-backs than the Villa defender when it comes to winning fouls; it’s a core part of his game and one that could rise here when confronted by the duo of Richarlison and Kolo Muani.

This has been a frustrating selection at times for me this season, though it did finally land for Gallagher against Wolves last time out, with the former Atletico Madrid midfielder committing a foul and picking up a caution at Molineux.

That is the only card that Gallagher has picked up across his 10 starts at Tottenham, but the pressure of the run-in should see that count rise from now until the end of the campaign. He’s committed 16 fouls across these 10 starts (1.72 per 90), so his aggression levels have not dropped as much as his tame card count so far would suggest.

Gallagher was playing in a slightly more advanced role against Wolves last time out, but his assignment hasn’t changed too much. He’s still at his best when without the ball, chasing down players and allowing Tottenham to have a more effective press. 

He’s lining up against the most fouled side in the league over the last two seasons, with Villa also drawing more cards than any other Premier League side over the last two seasons. Tottenham have picked up more yellow cards (85) than any other side in the Premier League this term, and also rank third for fouls committed (11.9 per game).