Tottenham Lose 2-1 to Aston Villa; Romero Ruled Out

Tottenham lost 2-1 at home to Aston Villa after Rodrigo Bentancur opened the scoring, Morgan Rogers levelled and Emiliano Buendia curled a 77th-minute winner. Manager Thomas Frank defended the performance, saying it could have been a draw, lamenting Spurs’ wastefulness while praising Villa’s moments of long-range quality. The result compounds Spurs’ poor home form — just three wins in their last 18 home league matches and two home defeats since Frank took charge. Captain Cristian Romero was ruled out in the warm-up; Frank had substitutes Lucas Bergvall and Randal Kolo Muani ready, and Kolo Muani has recently trained with the squad and is pushing for selection. Unai Emery’s tactical changes, including introducing Buendia (and Ollie Watkins), proved decisive as Villa’s bench turned the game in their favour.