Tottenham endured a nightmare few days before the international break, suffering their first pair of Premier League defeats under Ange Postecoglou and losing several key players to injury or suspension.
Postecoglou now needs to pick his depleted side up ahead of Sunday’s meeting with a potential rival for a top-four finish, as in-form Aston Villa visit north London.
Having gone unbeaten through their first 10 Premier League games under Postecoglou, Spurs begin matchday 13 fourth in the table after suffering back-to-back losses against Chelsea (4-1) and Wolves (2-1), despite opening the scoring in both of those matches.
Only four teams have ever lost three consecutive Premier League games when scoring first in each: Blackburn Rovers in April 2007, Sunderland in February 2011, Wolves in April 2012 and Leicester City in December 2014.
Spurs’ defeat at Molineux on matchday 12 was a particularly tough one to take, with Postecoglou’s men leading for 87 minutes through Brennan Johnson’s third-minute strike, only for stoppage-time goals from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina to hand Wolves an astonishing victory.
That is the longest unbroken lead a team has ever had in a Premier League game they eventually lost.
The last four goals Tottenham have shipped have all come in second-half stoppage time, and their total of six conceded during that timeframe is the most in the Premier League this season.
They will be determined to avoid another ‘Spursy’ finish on Sunday, but Postecoglou has plenty of availability headaches ahead of the game.
While James Maddison and Micky van de Ven are long-term absentees, Richarlison will miss out after undergoing groin surgery and Cristian Romero is one game into his three-match ban.
Yves Bissouma is also suspended after accumulating five yellow cards, while goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was ill last week. Spurs are hopeful he, as well as fellow Italian Destiny Udogie, who is carrying a knock, will be available.
Given all their selection issues, Tottenham may be more reliant than usual on captain Son Heung-min, who has scored five goals in six Premier League appearances against Villa. All of those strikes have come at Villa Park, however, with only Michael Owen scoring more Premier League goals against a specific opponent without netting at home (six versus West Bromwich Albion).
Fellow forward, Dejan Kulusevski will also have a key role to play, having created more chances following a ball carry (12) than any other player in the Premier League this season. The Swede has also carried the ball further than any other non-defender in the competition (2,735 metres).
Opponents Villa enter matchday 13 just one point behind Tottenham in the Premier League table, having boosted their surprise bid for UEFA Champions League qualification with a 3-1 win over Fulham last time out. John McGinn and Ollie Watkins netted after Fulham’s Antonee Robinson put through his own net as Villa stretched their home-winning run to 13 league games.
Only Manchester City (32) have bettered Villa’s 29 goals across the first 12 matchdays, with Unai Emery’s dynamic frontline proving a real handful for defences.
Villa are averaging 14.9 shots per game in the Premier League this season, their highest figure in a single campaign since 2002-03 (16.2). Meanwhile, only Newcastle United (17.2%) have a better shot conversion rate than their 16.2%.
The movement of Watkins and Moussa Diaby could cause problems for Tottenham’s makeshift backline, with the former making the most off-ball runs in the Premier League this season (405). His 138 off-ball runs into the box is also a league-high tally, and he has received three successful through balls from McGinn. Only Maddison (four for Richarlison) has provided more for a single teammate this term.
Villa is hopeful McGinn will be fit to feature in their lineup after hobbling out of Scotland’s 3-3 draw with Norway on Sunday, while Diego Carlos and Jacob Ramsey could return after being sidelined before the international break. Emiliano Buendía and Tyrone Mings are long-term absentees with serious knee injuries.
