Tottenham Hotspur suffer fresh double injury blow ahead of Aston Villa clash
On account of their back-to-back defeats to Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers before the international break, Tottenham have slipped to fourth in the table with nearly a third of the season played.
The Lilywhites have just a two-point gap to make up to leaders Manchester City before the champions face Liverpool, who are only one point better off than Postecoglou's men, as are Arsenal.
However, Unai Emery's high-flying Villa team are only one place and one point behind Spurs, who would therefore drop out of the Champions League places should they be condemned to a third successive defeat this weekend.
The Lilywhites' recent absentee crisis has played its part in their recent pair of defeats, as Micky van de Ven and James Maddison left the field against Chelsea with hamstring and ankle issues respectively, and neither man will return before the New Year.
Cristian Romero received a straight red card in that 4-1 loss to the Blues and will therefore serve the second of a three-game ban on Sunday, and Yves Bissouma is also suspended for gameweek 13, having been booked for the fifth time this season in his side's 2-1 defeat to Wolves a fortnight ago.
Richarlison added to Tottenham's woes when he underwent surgery on a pelvic problem that had plagued him since the start of the season, joining Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic, Ryan Sessegnon and Alfie Whiteman on the list of players recovering from operations.
Before facing the media on Friday, Postecoglou delivered a team news update to Tottenham's social media channels, in which he revealed that teenage
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