Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to back up their Champions League progress with more success on the domestic front when they welcome Burnley to Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
The home side go into the weekend sitting third in the Premier League table, whereas Burnley are in 17th place and only two points clear of the relegation zone.
Tottenham
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Spurs have had more to deal with than most top teams so far this season - admittedly some of which was of their own making - yet they could finish this weekend just three points off the summit of the Premier League should results fall kindly for them.
Liverpool and Manchester City have set the standard over the opening 16 games of the campaign, but any suggestions that it is only a two-horse race at this stage would be given a short shrift by Tottenham fans.
For them to even be in this position is an achievement given that they did not sign a single player in the summer, saw their existing squad hit harder than anyone by the World Cup and have also been forced to play all of their home games at Wembley due to the seemingly never-ending problems with their new stadium.
Not since Bill Nicholson's famous double-winning team of 1960-61 have Tottenham been in such good shape at this stage of a season, and while this team needs silverware before it can be considered in the same class as Dave Mackay, Danny Blanchflower and Cliff Jones, Mauricio Pochettino continues to enhance his own reputation.
Tuesday night's draw with Barcelona at Camp Nou saw the Argentine's stock rise even higher as Spurs booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, albeit with a helping hand from Inter Milan's slip-up against PSV Eindhoven.
A win on Saturday would see Pochettino become only the seventh manager to win 100 Premier League games in charge of a single club, and nine of those have come in Tottenham's last 11 league outings.
The only teams to have beaten Spurs in that time are Manchester City and Arsenal, the latter of whom await them at the Emirates Stadium again on Wednesday, this time in the EFL Cup.
The prospect of getting swift revenge for their derby defeat earlier this month coupled with the prospect of moving into the semi-finals of a cup competition may cause Tottenham to take their eyes off this match, so Pochettino will be careful to ensure that they do not take Burnley lightly.
Spurs have lost two of their last five home league games - as many as they had suffered in 39 prior to that - but they have won their last four across all competitions and are bidding to make it five on the bounce for the first time this season.
The hosts will be heavy favourites to do so against a Burnley side struggling at the wrong end of the table, and victory would be an ideal way to cap off what has already been a memorable week for the club.
Recent Premier League form: WWWLWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWLWWD
Burnley
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Tottenham's European success in midweek may have had Burnley fans casting their minds back to their own European journey, which ended in August.
The Clarets' conquerors Olympiacos enjoyed a home victory over AC Milan on Thursday, whereas Burnley find themselves just two points and one place above the Premier League relegation zone.
The hope was that Burnley's early exit from Europe would be graced with the silver lining of improved domestic form, but that has not been the case so far and the difference between this season and last so far has been remarkable.
Sean Dyche's side were a whopping 16 points and 10 places better off at this stage of 2017-18, while they had also conceded 20 fewer goals with their success being built on a sturdy defence.
It is the lack of that which has cost them so dearly this season - Burnley have scored the same number of goals as the same stage last term, after all - and only Fulham have shipped more goals than the Clarets.
A joint league-high seven of those goals have come in the final 10 minutes of matches, but Burnley did manage to hold out last weekend as they recorded a 1-0 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
In doing so, Burnley ended an eight-match winless streak which included six defeats, but they now come up against successive trips to North London with Spurs and Arsenal to face in their final two matches before Christmas.
Dyche's side have not won back-to-back matches across all competitions since April, and considering the calibre of opposition coming up it is entirely possible that Burnley could be spending Christmas in the bottom three.
The Clarets will also make the trip to North London having won just one of their last 14 away games, with only Southampton, Cardiff City and Fulham have picked up fewer points on the road this term.
Recent Premier League form: LDLLLW
Team News
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Pochettino will hand late fitness tests to a number of players ahead of this match, including right-backs Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier.
Kyle Walker-Peters may be forced to fill in again should neither recover, and there are further problems in defence with Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth both suffering hamstring injuries.
Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama are definite absentees, but Eric Dier, Ben Davies and Lucas Moura - the latter of whom scored the all-important equaliser against Barcelona - could return to the side.
Jan Vertonghen is also eligible to play after serving a domestic suspension last weekend.
Burnley, meanwhile, could be without Steven Defour and Johann Berg Gudmundsson, with Defour struggling due to a calf injury and Gudmundsson complaining of a tight hamstring.
Should the latter recover, though, then Dyche could name an unchanged team from the one which picked up the overdue win last weekend.
Tottenham possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen. Davies; Winks, Dier, Lucas, Alli, Eriksen; Kane
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Hart; Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Lennon, Westwood, Cork, Brady; Wood, Barnes
Head To Head
Spurs are unbeaten in their last eight matches against Burnley across all competitions, winning five of those including a 3-0 triumph a year ago.
The Clarets have not beaten Tottenham since a 4-2 triumph in May 2010, when they came from two goals down, and that remains their solitary Premier League win in this fixture.
Burnley have not won a league game away to Spurs since October 1974, although they did triumph in a League Cup quarter-final in 1983.
We say: Tottenham 2-0 Burnley
Spurs should be full of confidence for this match after their midweek result and it would be a major shock if they failed to pick up all three points against a Burnley side struggling this season, particularly on the road.
Barney Corkhill
