Tottenham Hotspur are set to take on Aston Villa in the Premier League and it could prove to be a defining clash in the top-four race.
Aston Villa are currently fourth in the league table with Spurs five points behind them in fifth place. The North London outfit simply have to win the game if they want to stay in the race for the top four.
Former Premier League manager Alan Pardew believes that Aston Villa are likely to target James Maddison and nullify his threat throughout the game. The 26-year-old midfielder has been outstanding since joining Tottenham and he has established himself as a key player.
Pardew said on talkSPORT (8:23 pm, March 3, 2024): “Maddison, I thought, he was terrific. You know, somebody who is looking and trying to find solutions, the whole game he is trying to find a way through the lines or trying to find a way through the back-four. He is looking for that incisive pass, he is looking for a moment to change the game. I loved that about him yesterday.”
The talkSPORT pundit added: “The one thing that I will say about him which makes him difficult is that you can’t man-mark him. You know, like sometimes that number 10 guy. you can like get your sitter to stay with him like for 95% of the game, 90%. But he drifts all over the place. He goes into the back-four, he becomes a problem.”
Tottenham have been overly dependent on him for creativity and vision in the final third. Nullifying his threat could weaken Spurs significantly.
Pardew believes that Unai Emery will have a game plan to stop the England international. However, he believes that it is very difficult to mark Maddison out of the game because of his tendency to drift all across the pitch. It will be interesting to see how Aston Villa cope with him and stop him from dominating the game.