Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham Hotspur squad will know that falling to defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday will result in a four-match skid to throw their grip on Champions League qualification into the abyss.
The season is still far from reaching the crucial business end but with so many outfits pushing for prominence slip-ups could be detrimental, and falling to yet another loss in the Premier League would allow those below to potentially sink Spurs down to seventh.
Injury-hit Tottenham lost on home turf to Aston Villa last Sunday but did have their chances, with Giovani Lo Celso opening the scoring and the hosts taking 18 shots and hitting the target eight times.
City are formidable but their rearguard is not impregnable, as has been evidenced by RB Leipzig in the Champions League earlier this week, and Postecoglou will maintain a stoical belief that his side can whir into life with a galvanising performance.
Absences are rife, however, with the Australian manager set to potentially issue four changes for the trip to Manchester…
1 GK – Guglielmo Vicario
Thank goodness Guglielmo Vicario has remained steadfast in his availability and performance since joining from Italian side Empoli for an initial £17m in the summer, having been touted to become a "phenomenon" by Kosovo technical director Sami Ujkani.
He has saved 75% of shots faced in the Premier League this term, as per FBref, which is behind only Alisson and Andre Onana, and he will be expected to stand strong against the Sky Blues.
2 RB – Pedro Porro
Pedro Porro will retain his place down the right channel, providing energy and supplementing his offensive peers ahead, having posted three assists already in the Premier League this term.
The graph's delineation of Porro's skill set evidences his superlative offensive credentials, while also ranking highly within his tackling and blocking metrics.
The Spaniard will need to be on his a-game to stifle the fleet-footed Jeremy Doku, but he certainly boasts the physicality to do so.
3 CB – Eric Dier
Eric Dier has completed 362 appearances for Tottenham but has fallen by the wayside under Postecoglou's leadership, having flattered to deceive last season as his side struggled.
Postecoglou opted to field four natural full-backs in the backline last time out, but against City, this will be exposed and Dier's experience as a central defender will be needed, especially aerially, where he ranks among the top 11% of positional peers for aerial duels won per 90.
Emerson Royal must be the man to drop out, with the Brazilian winning just one ground duel and failing to make a tackle against Unai Emery's side last week.
4 CB – Ben Davies
Micky van de Ven's hamstring injury and Cristian Romero's red card have provided Ben Davies with the platform to earn some minutes, having now started three of the past four games in the top flight after missing out from the outset across all nine of the opening fixtures.
Filling in at centre-half, the 30-year-old hasn't been half bad, completing 94% of his passes and. winning 70% of his ground duels thus far, as per Sofascore.
5 LB – Destiny Udogie
Spurs signed Destiny Udogie from Udinese in 2022 but he was immediately loaned back to the Serie A outfit, finally joining the fray this summer and proving to be one of the most exciting and dynamic young full-backs across Europe.
He won seven of his nine contested duels against Villa, made four tackles and completed 86% of his passes, and given that footballJOE's Hunter Godson remarked that he "gets into nearly every team in the world already", it's a big plus that he will start against Pep Guardiola's side.
6 DM – Yves Bissouma
Absent for the Aston Villa match last weekend after picking up a one-match suspension following an accumulation of yellow cards, Yves Bissouma will be the central cog in the engine room against Manchester City, having enjoyed a meteoric rise under his 58-year-old manager's guidance.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Passing
Discipline
Tackling
Aerial duels
Interceptions
*Sourced via WhoScored
As per FBref, the Malian midfielder ranks among the top 1% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 10% for tackles, the top 16% for interceptions, the top 7% for successful take-ons and the top 19% for clearances per 90.
7 CM – Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Pape Matar Sarr might be building back his fitness after missing out last week with injury but the exciting prospect might not be ready for a starting return against City, in what is sure to be a rigorous affair.
As such, the industrious Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg would be a worthy addition to the starting line-up, with the opportunity arising for the Dane after Rodrigo Bentancur's injury.
The 6 foot 1 "monster" – as he has been called by Morten Bisgaard – could provide the metronomic presence needed to fight against City's suffocating style.
8 CM – Giovani Lo Celso
Lo Celso's goal last weekend may well have secured him a place in Postecoglou's starting line-up for perhaps the most daunting fixture of the Premier League season (on paper, at least).
Enterprising and creative, the Argentinian ace also created three key passes and won seven ground duels against Villa, as per Sofascore, and he will be needed to act as the conduit between the midfield and the attack tomorrow.
9 RW – Dejan Kulusevski
Three goals and zero assists from 13 starts in the Premier League this season is a modest return but certainly not the stuff of awe, but Dejan Kulusevski's game is so much more.
Having completed 81% of his passes and averaged 2.1 key passes per game, as per Sofascore, the robust Swede's energy and penetrating presence have been invaluable for Postecoglou.
He has scored and won two of his three matches against Pep Guardiola's side, and could be the difference-maker come Sunday.
10 LW – Brennan Johnson
Signed from Nottingham Forest for £47.5m in the summer, Brennan Johnson has capitalised on Richarlison's recent pelvic injury to prove his worth in this Spurs side.
While his team has toiled over recent weeks, the Welshman, aged 22, has impressed with his directness and "frightening" pace – as has recently been noted by content creator HLTCO.