Aston Villa vs. Spurs: Roberto De Zerbi urges players to rally ahead of pivotal Premier League showdown

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has claimed that "only losers cry" as Tottenham Hotspur prepare to face Aston Villa on Sunday evening.

Despite last weekend's 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Spurs remain two points adrift of safety in the Premier League table.

Next up for Spurs is a showdown with Villa in the West Midlands, a game which takes place 26 hours after the conclusion of West Ham United's trip to Brentford.

All eyes will be on that game with Spurs facing the prospect of being five points adrift from safety if the Hammers prevail at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Nevertheless, De Zerbi has demanded that his Spurs squad show positivity before and during the game with Villa, insisting that it would 'not be a miracle' if they record three points.

De Zerbi issues Spurs rallying cry

As quoted by The Guardian, the Italian said: "The most important challenge now is to silence the voice inside of us, inside the players, the staff and the fans. This voice can produce negative thoughts.

"The voice says: ‘We are unlucky, we have too many injuries, we lost Xavi Simons – one of our best players in the last two games – our medical staff is not good enough, the pitch of the stadium is not good, the pitch of the training ground is not good. It is impossible to win two or three games in a row because we have not won too many games in 2026.’

“It is all negative things. And it is rubbish. If Tottenham win in Villa Park, it is not a miracle. We have the quality to win. If Solanke and Xavi are injured, we can play with [Randal] Kolo Muani, Mathys Tel, Richarlison and they are not worse players. They are different as characters but are very good players. We have Pedro Porro, we have Udogie, we have Micky van de Ven, we have [Rodrigo] Bentancur, we have Palhinha, we have [Conor] Gallagher.

"I have heard: ‘It is impossible, we are crying and we are relegated.’ But no. Not yet. We have to die on the pitch and to die on the pitch, we have to lose the game. Before we lose the game we have to play, we have to fight.

"It is a tough moment but the losers cry. The losers think negative. I don’t want people close to me crying or thinking in a different way to me.”

Does De Zerbi have Spurs squad on board?

Although Spurs did not showcase their true quality against Wolves, a scrappy 1-0 win courtesy of a late goal may be what is required to strengthen the resolve in the ranks.

Conceding so late in a 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion had the potential to make De Zerbi's job harder than it already was, but Spurs now seem to be heading in the right direction.

Injuries could play their part, yet De Zerbi and his Spurs squad will have faith that they can upset a Villa side who will have one eye on the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Nottingham Forest four days later.