Tottenham Hotspur's initial 2024/25 optimism amid manager Ange Postecoglou's bold claim that he always wins silverware in his second season at a club is now nowhere to be found.
With one of the deepest injury crises in recent memory, Spurs have embarked on a terrible run and now find themselves way down in 15th. November's emphatic 4-0 win at Premier League champions Manchester City is a distant memory.
Four places above them in 11th heading into the latest set of EPL games are city neighbours Brentford, who will look to extend a seven-point advantage over Tottenham when they welcome the north Londoners to the west of England's capital city.
The way things are going, Postecoglou and company would happily settle for where Brentford are at right now, plus a great cup run or two from their three existing knockout campaigns, before attempting to start over with a fresher and fuller squad next season.
Can they begin that recovery process at the expense of the Bees – who are themselves lacking a number of players through injury — or will their league worries get worse with a fifth straight league defeat?
MORE: Postecoglou makes light of injury crisis with funny touchline performance
Brentford vs. Tottenham lineups, confirmed starting 11, team news
Both Christian Norgaard and Kevin Schade came off early during the victory at Crystal Palace, but manager Thomas Frank confirmed they were precautionary changes and both start against Spurs.
Rico Henry's injury issues took a fresh turn recently and he won't feature, while Josh Dasilva (knee), Ethan Pinnock (thigh), Aaron Hickey (thigh), Igor Thiago (knee), Ryan Trevitt (shin) and Gustavo Nunes (back) remain unavailable.
Michael Kayode is on the bench following his arrival from Fiorentina.
Brentford (4-2-3-1, right to left): Flekken (GK) — Ajer, Van den Berg, Collins, Lewis-Potter — Janelt, Norgaard — Mbeumo, Damsgaard, Schade — Wissa
Brentford subs: Eyestone (GK), Mee, Pinnock, Kayode, Jensen, Carvalho, Konak, Yarmoliuk, Maghoma.
MORE: Premier League schedule for 2024/25 | Latest Premier League top scorer rankings
Spurs' latest first-team casualty is defender Radu Dragusin, who tweaked his knee in the Europa League match against IF Elfsborg and sits out the trip across the capital.
Dragusin joins Brennan Johnson (calf), James Maddison (calf), Wilson Odobert (hamstring), Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Timo Werner (hamstring), Dominic Solanke (knee), Destiny Udogie (hamstring) and Cristian Romero (thigh) on the injury list in an ongoing turn of events that has left Postecoglou to resort to gallows humour on the touchline.
Defender Djed Spence comes back in after sitting out the Elfsborg match due to not being registered in Spurs' Europa League squad. However there is no place for Micky van de Ven, as Postecoglou seeks to manage the influential Dutch defender's return from his latest hamstring setback
Tottenham (4-2-3-1, right to left): Kinsky (GK) — Porro, Gray, Davies, Spence — Bentancur, Bissouma, — Moore, Kulusevski, Son — Richarlison
Tottenham subs: Austin (GK), Reguilon, Bergvall, Cassanova, Ajayi, Olusesi, Hardy, Sarr, Scarlett.
MORE: Why sticking with Postecoglou could pay off for Spurs in long run
Brentford vs. Tottenham live stream, TV channel
Here's how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | USA Network | Peacock, nbcsports.com, Telemundo |
| Canada | — | Fubo |
| UK | Sky Sports Main Event | Sky Go, NOW TV |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| India | — | Disney+ Hotstar, JioTV |
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