Tottenham Hotspur know that they will leapfrog Aston Villa into fourth place in the Premier League with victory at West Ham United on Tuesday evening, with Unai Emery's side visiting title-chasing Manchester City one day later.
Ange Postecoglou has earned praise for his work in stabilising the Spurs ship and while improvements have been made since his appointment last summer, there is little question that Champions League qualification is now the prize.
Achieving this feat is dependent on Tottenham's consistency, their verve. Postecoglou will gladly welcome back Micky van de Ven to the starting line-up after the Dutchman's absence across the past two matches, and he will certainly be needed against the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and centre-forward Michail Antonio, with Lucas Paqueta pulling the strings.
With no European or FA Cup football to think about for Tottenham, full focus can and must be invested into securing a place in next season's elite club competition in Europe. That is to say, Spurs must defeat West Ham in midweek, incentivised by their home loss against David Moyes' men in December.
With Van de Ven returning and mere days since winning against Luton, Postecoglou might be convinced to make three changes to his starting lineup.
1 GK – Guglielmo Vicario
Guglielmo Vicario has proved himself to be quite the upgrade on veteran Hugo Lloris, who lost his place at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Italian hasn't missed a minute in the Premier League this season and you can bet your bottom dollar he'll be between the sticks at the London Stadium.
2 RB – Pedro Porro
Pedro Porro is some player. He arrived at a challenging point in January 2023 and while he offered glimpses of brilliance, his early exploits in London were marred by mistakes and inconsistency. That's all changed this year.
As per Sofascore, the Spain international has clinched seven assists from 26 league games, averaging 1.7 key passes, 2.8 tackles, 5.8 ball recoveries and 5.0 successful duels per game.
3 CB – Cristian Romero
While Cristian Romero is an imperfect centre-half, he's a heck of a good one. Tottenham supporters would argue that he falls into the same bracket as Virgil van Dijk and William Saliba, and there's definitely a case there.
As per Sofascore, the 2022 World Cup champion has scored four goals from 24 Premier League matches this season, completing 92% of his passes, averaging 2.0 tackles and 6.0 ball recoveries per game and winning a noteworthy 70% of his duels.
4 CB – Micky van de Ven
It's quite simple: when Van de Ven plays, Tottenham are far better equipped to secure victory.
With Van de Ven
18
12
2.2
Without Van de Ven
11
5
1.4
His athleticism and pace blend perfectly with Romero's tough-tackling aggression, and he will be vital in nullifying the West Ham attacking efforts.
5 LB – Destiny Udogie
Destiny Udogie looks like he's been thriving at the height of the Premier League for many years, but he only made his debut in the competition back in August.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 10% of full-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 13% for progressive passes, the top 9% for progressive carries, the top 12% for successful take-ons, the top 19% for tackles and the top 7% for interceptions per 90.
Vladimir Coufal had a poor game as West Ham were swarmed late on against Newcastle United at the weekend – branded with a 4/10 match rating by The Evening Standard – and you wouldn't bet against Udogie capitalising on this.
6 CM – Rodrigo Bentancur
Rodrigo Bentancur is still searching for his pre-injury form, and he will find it. He may well start against West Ham after Yves Bissouma's continuing loss of form led to a 5/10 match rating against Luton.
The Uruguayan hasn't started in about a month and will be itching to make an impression and reclaim his place at the height of the pecking order.
7 CM – Pape Matar Sarr
Bissouma might not retain his starting spot but Pape Matar Sarr simply has to, with the Senegalese midfielder's energy and infectious enthusiasm so important for Tottenham's productivity and point of direction on the pitch.
The 21-year-old has started 21 Premier League games this term, recently sitting in a deeper role that could keep his Malian teammate out of the team on Tuesday.
8 RW – Brennan Johnson
Signed for £47.5m from Nottingham Forest last summer after one top-flight campaign, eyebrows rose when Brennan Johnson moved to Tottenham. Some brows are still raised now.
This doesn't matter to Postecoglou, to his Tottenham team and the club supporters, who have recognised the Welshman's electric pace, directness and creativity. It makes such a difference.
He deserves a starting berth to terrorise the hosts and hand his side back-to-back victories, with Dejan Kulusevski the man to give way after being replaced at the interval last time out.
The Swede – who has started 26 league games this season – has been the regular pick on that right flank, although with Johnson picking up his seventh assist of the season last time out, a change needs to be made.
9 AM – James Maddison
While, yet again, James Maddison didn't enjoy his finest performance in a Tottenham shirt last time out, no one does it like he. His playmaking prowess, eagle-eyed vision and dynamism craft attacking sequences for his peers and he has been described as a "nightmare for defenders" by The Times' Henry Winter.
10 LW – Heung-min Son
Heung-min Son scored his 15th Premier League goal of the campaign against Luton and is flourishing as his team's talismanic force, adding eight assists for his teammates.
The 31-year-old has been in fine form at centre-forward recently but Timo Werner worked hard on Saturday and Son will return to his natural left-wing position, where he will hardly need to bring himself up to speed.