Beth England scored on her debut for Tottenham after making a record-breaking transfer from Chelsea, but it wasn't enough for Rehanne Skinner's side as they fell to their fifth straight defeat.
England put the visitors ahead in the first 30 minutes with one of the first attempts on goal for Spurs during a half which saw Villa dominate.
Tottenham have spent much of the campaign vying with Everton to be the 'best of the rest' outside of the league's conventional top four, but it's a bad start to the year as they try to gain momentum in 2023.
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England's impact on the team is already clear as she looks to get more game time to try and impress Lionesses head coach Sarina Wiegman ahead of the Women's World Cup this summer.
She almost levelled in the closing minutes after first half goals from Kenza Dali and Rachel Daly had given Villa the lead but her effort just skimmed over the top of the bar in the first minute of additional time leaving them to settle for the 2-1 loss.
Following the defeat, Skinner said: "I thought we started a little but too tentatively, it took a while for us to get into the game.
"We absorbed a lot of pressure during that time but we were able to manage to get a goal probably against the run of play.
"We grew into the game a lot better, as we started to dominate possession and we were in a position to create a few more chances, but I think the way we finished is the way we need to be playing the game from start to finish."
On England's debut goal, she added: "She hasn't played a lot of minutes, and she's trying to get her match sharpness back, but still showing her quality despite that. We've recruited her for a reason, she's going to score goals and [is] proven to score goals.
"She's a fantastic player and she's going to do great for us."
Spurs next play host to bottom of the table Leicester on Sunday January 22 at Brisbane Road.
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