At risk of suffering five consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time in over 20 years, Tottenham Hotspur make the short trek to the Gtech Community Stadium to meet Brentford in Sunday's London derby.
The Lilywhites relied on their young guns to sink Elfsborg 3-0 in Thursday's Europa League tie, while the Bees controversially got the better of Crystal Palace 2-1 in their last Premier League affair.
Match preview
© Imago
A little under 18 months ago, Ange Postecoglou wrote a new chapter of Premier League history as the first head coach to take an unrivalled 26 points from his first 30 games in charge of Tottenham, whose fans were dreaming of glory once again thanks to the attack-minded Australian.
However, a familiar sense of doom and gloom has now engulfed the North London outfit once again - at least in a Premier League sense - as they suffered a fate they had not been subjected to in over 112 years during last weekend's shocking 2-1 defeat to Leicester City.
By failing to cling onto a one-goal lead on home turf, Spurs were beaten by a team on a seven-match losing sequence for the first time since 1912, and the 15th-placed Lilywhites are most certainly in a relegation dogfight as they lie in a lowly 15th place in the Premier League rankings.
Just eight points clear of the drop zone and a staggering 17 adrift of the top four, Tottenham remain without a single Premier League win in 2025, have prevailed in just one of their last 11 fixtures in the top flight, and Postecoglou could become the first Spurs boss since Osvaldo Ardilles in 1994 to lose five straight games in the competition.
All of the above has served to increase animosity towards unpopular chairman Daniel Levy and plunge Postecoglou's future into serious doubt, but the latter is still not believed to be in any immediate danger of the sack and was bailed out by players young enough to be his grandchildren in midweek.
After Spurs struggled to breach the Elfsborg backline for 70 minutes, the academy trio of Mikey Moore, Dane Scarlett and Damola Ajayi came up with the goods in a 3-0 Europa League success, one that ensured Tottenham would progress to the last 16 without an unwanted two-legged playoff.
© Imago
Upcoming hosts Brentford have dreamt European dreams of their own since becoming a settled Premier League outfit, but Thomas Frank's men must first crack the top half again before continental aspirations can come to the forefront of their minds.
The Bees have been walking in anything but a winter wonderland in recent weeks, but they picked up just their second win from 10 games at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park last weekend, thanks in no small part to a retaken Bryan Mbeumo penalty.
After seeing his first attempt strike the post, the Cameroonian did not let his second bite at the cherry pass him by after Marc Guehi was penalised for encroachment, and a Kevin Schade header not long after ensured that Romain Esse's memorable debut goal would prove inconsequential.
Now 11th in the table with a nine-point gap to the top seven, Brentford have many wrongs to right on their own patch; they were formerly the best home team in the land but have now failed to win any of their last five games at the Gtech in all tournaments, losing four of them.
Frank's men were also conquered 3-1 when they visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, meaning that Spurs could complete their first-ever league double over Brentford, although each of their three meetings at the Gtech have ended level.
Team News
© Imago
Of course, Tottenham's midweek triumph came with the new customary injury concern, as Romanian centre-back Radu Dragusin tweaked his knee in the second half; Postecoglou admitted after the match that the defender did not "look good".
Dragusin is expected to join Brennan Johnson (calf), James Maddison (calf), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Timo Werner (hamstring), Dominic Solanke (knee), Destiny Udogie (hamstring) and Cristian Romero (thigh) on the sidelines for this one - the latter is now back in training, but Postecoglou has already ruled him out of contention for Sunday.
However, Dragusin had only come on as a substitute for the fit-again Micky van de Ven, who should be given the all-clear to start the London derby after being restricted to just 45 minutes in midweek; if not, Postecoglou can shift Ben Davies to the centre thanks to Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon's returns from Europa League ineligibility.
Postecoglou's opposite number Frank was forced into not one, but two changes at Selhurst Park, where Christian Norgaard and goalscorer Schade both failed to complete the full 90 minutes; however, he stressed that both were precautionary.
Both men are therefore expected to be given the all-clear for Sunday's game, where Fiorentina loanee Michael Kayode might also make his debut for the Bees following Mads Roerslev's loan move to Wolfsburg.
Kayode's availability cannot come quickly enough, as Rico Henry (hamstring) has suffered a new setback and joins Josh Dasilva (knee), Ethan Pinnock (thigh), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Igor Thiago (knee) and Gustavo Nunes (back) in the treatment room.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Kayode, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Janelt, Norgaard; Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade; Wissa
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Porro, Gray, Van de Ven, Spence; Bentancur, Bissouma, Bergvall; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son
We say: Brentford 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
If there is any game in the 2024-25 Premier League that guarantees goals, it is surely Brentford vs. Tottenham, especially as the Bees have still not kept a single clean sheet on their own patch all season long.
Frank's men still ought to feel that a depleted Tottenham defence is there for the taking, but the hosts have faced more shots than any other Premier League side this season, and their wait for a first home win of 2025 - as well as Spurs' first top-flight win of the New Year - should continue in a frenetic stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
