Thomas Frank has not enjoyed much success against Unai Emery in the past, but Tottenham's clash against Aston Villa could prove whether the north London side are serious title contenders or just pretenders.

Spurs are currently third in the Premier League table after seven games, but a win against Villa could see them go top if both Arsenal and Liverpool drop points against Fulham and Manchester United, respectively.

Villa entered the international break on the back of two consecutive victories in the league to take them up to 13th in the table after an unexpectedly slow start to the 2025-26 season.

Both sides also boast a strong record when playing after an international break.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, Spurs have won six of their nine Premier League games immediately following the international break (L3), including a 3-0 win against West Ham earlier this season.

Villa, meanwhile, have won eight of their last 10 league games that have come on the matchday after an international break (D2) – including an away win against Spurs in November 2023.

However, getting a win against Emery is far easier said than done for Frank, who is yet to taste victory against the Spaniard in the English top-flight.

But can Frank finally get the better of Emery following his switch to north London in the summer? Here is what the Opta data says.

What's expected?

Despite Spurs' strong start to the league, most of their success has come away from home as they have won just four points from three games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs have won just three of their last 17 Premier League home games (D4 L10). Indeed, since the first game of this run (November 2024 v Ipswich Town), no ever-present side has lost more home games (10) or picked up fewer home points (13) in the competition than them.

Villa have also won four of their last six Premier League games against Spurs (L2), as many as their previous 29 beforehand (D7 L18).

None of the last 20 top-flight matches between Spurs and Villa have been drawn (14 Spurs wins, six Villa wins) since a 1-1 stalemate in May 2012.

Only two fixtures in the competition's history have ever had more successive games without a draw: Newcastle United v Spurs (21 from Aug 1999 to Dec 2010) and Chelsea v Crystal Palace (26 from Sep 1997 to Feb 2024).

After running 10,000 simulations of the upcoming match, the Opta supercomputer expects a tight contest between the two sides on Sunday.

Spurs have been given a 38.4% chance of winning at home, while Villa have a 35.1% probability of extending their winning run in the league to three games.

A draw has been given a likelihood of 26.5%, and given Spurs' recent home form, Villa will fancy their chances of leaving with something in the capital.

Can Frank break his Emery hoodoo?

Frank has never beaten Emery's Villa side in the Premier League in five attempts (D2 L3, all with Brentford). It is the most he has faced an opposing manager in the competition without ever winning.

In addition to that, Frank has only won once in his previous eight top-flight games against Villa, his joint-lowest win percentage against a side in the competition (12.5%).

Emery, on the other hand, has lost just two of his nine Premier League games against Spurs (W5 D2, with both Arsenal and Villa), only boasting more league wins for the Villans against Fulham (six) than Spurs (four).

But Frank and Spurs should not be overly concerned about the challenge ahead, especially with the clinical nature of his attack.

Tottenham have scored 13 goals from an expected goals (xG) tally of 7.5 in the Premier League this season, the biggest overperformance of any side (+5.5). Indeed, their shot conversion rate of 16.9% is second only to Manchester City (17.4%).

Their 13 goals have come from eight different scorers, a tally only bettered by Arsenal and Brighton (nine) after seven games.

Mohammed Kudus, their most recent goalscorer, has impressed for Spurs this season following his move from rivals West Ham.

Kudus has completed 30 dribbles in the Premier League this season, with no other player completing 20 or more.

The Ghana international has completed 246 dribbles in his 72 Premier League appearances overall, with the only player to record 250+ successful dribbles within his first 73 games on Opta's records in the competition (from 2006-07) is Allan Saint-Maximin (250 in first 58).

Rogers the key to success for Villa

The Villans won four consecutive games heading into the international break, beating Burnley and Fulham in the league while also defeating Feyenoord and Bologna to start their Europa League campaign.

After failing to win each of their opening five league games this season (D3 L2), Villa have since won their last two. In fact, since the beginning of March, only Man City have enjoyed more Premier League wins (11) than Emery's team (10).

And they have shown a threat from set-pieces; 25% of Villa's shots in the Premier League this season have been from corner situations (19/76); only West Ham (26%) have a higher ratio.

Indeed, only Arsenal (26) and Chelsea (22) have registered more efforts from corners overall than the Villans (19).

However, Villa's recent upturn in results has coincided with Morgan Rogers' positive form, and he is a player Spurs will need to keep an eye on.

Rogers provided assists in their wins against Fulham and Burnley, while he also found the net in England's 3-0 friendly win against Wales during the international break.

Rogers has assisted more goals in the Premier League in 2025 (nine) than any other player, but has never recorded one in three successive Premier League appearances before.

The 23-year-old also directly contributed to two of Villa's three goals against Spurs in the league last season (one goal, one assist).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tottenham – Brennan Johnson

After starting the league campaign with goals against Burnley and Man City in the opening two fixtures, Brennan Johnson has failed to score for Spurs since.

However, the Wales international tends to make an impact against Villa.

Johnson has scored in each of his last two Premier League starts against Villa, both coming in wins (4-0 in March 2024, 4-1 in November 2024).

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Ollie Watkins is a familiar foe for the north London club, with four of his five Premier League goal involvements against Spurs coming at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (three goals, one assist).

Although he has scored just one goal in seven league games so far this season, and has taken just 11 shots across those matches, he is starting to rediscover his golden touch.

After scoring the equaliser in their win over Fulham, Watkins also found the back of the net in England's victory against Wales.