Tottenham Hotspur will play ten more games until the curtain is drawn on Ange Postecoglou's first campaign at the club, and there is certainly a lot to play for.
While Spurs were felled early in both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, also missing out on continental football this season after lumbering to an eighth-placed Premier League finish last year, there have been improvements in the top-flight, reflected in the position heading into the business end.
Fifth-placed and just three points behind Aston Villa, with a game in hand, the Lilywhites must find a way to settle the equilibrium, with recent results underpinning the inconsistency that will ruin a promising campaign if not tamed.
Fulham (A)
16/03/2024
3-0 loss
Aston Villa (A)
10/03/2024
4-0 win
Crystal Palace (H)
02/03/2024
3-1 win
Wolves (H)
17/02/2024
2-1 loss
Brighton (H)
20/02/2024
2-1 win
Next up, the London club do have a favourable fixture to get back into the swing of things – on paper, at least – hosting 17th-placed Luton Town, who have not won since the end of January.
Luton, promoted last year, have been cohesive and enthusiastic this season and will not roll over for the Lilywhites, though Postecoglou's side have an abundance of attacking talent and this could ensure that the home side finish the day with the goods.
Spurs team news vs Luton
Micky van de Ven has been given the green light ahead of this afternoon's contest and might return to the starting line-up, though Postecoglou will be wary that his outfit travel to the London Stadium to meet West Ham United on Tuesday night.
The loss of Van de Ven at Craven Cottage was significant. With the Dutch defender on the pitch, Tottenham average 2.2 points per game in the Premier League this season. Absent, his side have picked up just 1.3 points per game.
Yves Bissouma is bound to start once again in the centre of the park despite leaving much to be desired two weeks ago; Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur will battle for a place alongside the Malian.
Up front, Heung-min Son will start as always, though the question there is where. Postecoglou might be tempted to shuffle his pack after such a chastening result against Fulham, with Brennan Johnson one of the more likely members to miss out against the Hatters.
Brennan Johnson's performance vs Fulham
James Maddison toiled and Dejan Kulusevski created just one key pass against the Cottagers, but Johnson has been the most infrequent starting member of Postecoglou's set-up this season and has attributes that are well-suited off the bench.
He missed two big chances at the Cottage, also failing with his two attempted dribbles and winning just one of his five contested duels, with football.london's Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold branding the Wales international with a lowly 4/10 match rating.
Gold said: 'Couldn't match his previous displays, hit one weak shot at the keeper and was poor with the ball although he should have had an assist for a ball across the face of goal that Werner should have tucked into the net.'
Johnson has been in excellent form over the past several weeks and has racked up four goals and six assists from 22 total Premier League outings for the club, impressing with his "frightening pace and directness", as per content creator Dan Cook.
But he's not the only attacking talent in the team and such a blunt effort before the break calls for changes, with Timo Werner waiting in the wings and Richarlison recovering from a knee injury to feature in the late stage against Fulham.
Spurs lining up their answer to Haaland in move for £30m “machine”
Ange could complete his team by signing this priority target in the summer.