Tottenham's strongest line up vs Aston Villa after international break problems

Spurs return to Premier League action after the international break with the visit of Unai Emery's Aston Villa to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Villa finally got going before the break with a run of four straight victories, two coming in the Premier League and two in the Europa League. The Villains will come into the clash in N17 on Sunday sitting 13th in the fledgling table with Thomas Frank's side up in third with just one defeat under the new head coach in all competitions since the Premier League began.

Due to the staggered nature now of international matches, the Spurs players will be returning to Hotspur Way on different days across the coming week which can cause problems in terms of recovery and readiness, although the Villa match being on Sunday does provide a bit more preparation time for all involved.

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Injuries in the second round of international matches could also bring further problems for Frank and the latest players back to the Enfield training complex will be those who play on Tuesday either in Europe or further afield.

Richarlison could be involved in Brazil's friendly in Japan, which kicks off at 11.30am UK time on Tuesday, while later that night Joao Palhinha could play for Portugal at home against Hungary, as could Pedro Porro for Spain at home against Bulgaria and Djed Spence for England in Latvia.

Destiny Udogie and Guglielmo Vicario take on Manor Solomon's Israel that night in Italy while the latest returnee to Hotspur Way could well be Pape Matar Sarr who faces a Senegal home World Cup qualifier against Mauritania on Tuesday night.

Rodrigo Bentancur is one of the few players to be given a fortnight off from international duty after Marcelo Bielsa named a young Uruguay squad for two friendlies in Asia in order to look at some new faces which means the experienced midfielder will be one of Frank's fresher players.

The Dane has another run of games after the Villa clash to take into account with Spurs heading to Monaco for their next Champions League game on Wednesday next week before returning to face Everton away at their new stadium the following Sunday. The Spurs head coach must juggle his side to decide who plays in which game.

Here's the Tottenham team we reckon Frank will select to face Villa.

(4-3-3) Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bentancur, Palhinha, Xavi; Kudus, Richarlison, Odobert.