Tottenham Hotspur will welcome Eintracht Frankfurt and their masses of supporters to North London on Wednesday for an important matchday four encounter in the UEFA Champions League.
Both clubs sit on four points in Group D with Spurs only currently above their German opponents on goal difference, occupying the second qualifying spot for the last 16.
In what was visibly a very challenging week for Tottenham, as seen by the expressions of Antonio Conte, Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris when mentioning the passing of their fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone last week, they battled on to secure an impressive victory away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday to climb to third in the Premier League.
Some recent results, most notably the damaging defeat they suffered in the North London derby against Arsenal and their late collapse away to Sporting Lisbon, have overshadowed what was a very solid start to the season, in which they have not been beaten in any of their other 10 matches in all competitions.
They must ensure they take all three points from this encounter though, otherwise they will heap huge pressure on themselves to take maximum points from their final two matches as qualification may fall out of their own hands.
Two late Richarlison goals against a 10-man Marseille are the only goals Spurs have managed in Europe so far, and their toothless displays in Frankfurt and Lisbon must be improved upon here if they want the three points required.
In what has been a very messy season so far for Frankfurt, they added another crazy result to their record at the weekend, going down 3-0 to Bochum in the Bundesliga.
That was both Bochum’s first win and first clean sheet of the season, as they went into the match four points adrift at the bottom of the table, but comfortably saw off Eintracht in a second-half display which will have left Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner furious at his side’s capitulation.
Their inconsistency is encapsulated with results like this coming just weeks after beating league leaders Union Berlin in their last domestic home game, and hammering fellow Champions League entrants RB Leipzig 4-0 a month ago.
Their Champions League journey has had its ups and downs already too, with a dour 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture against Spurs being a huge contrast from their opening two fixtures.
A 3-0 humbling at home to Sporting Lisbon was a real baptism of fire for a side making their first appearance at this level since being finalists in 1960, but that was followed up by the delirium of winning 1-0 away to Marseille, one of the most hostile places to go on the continent.
Despite the inconsistency though, all is still very stable in terms of placings for the club both domestically and in Europe, as a win here could see them go top of the group if results go their way.
Tottenham Hotspur Champions League form:
WLD
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):
WLWLDW
Eintracht Frankfurt Champions League form:
LWD
Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):
LWWWDL
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt may have lost heavily at the weekend, but Glasner rested more than a few key starters with one eye on this game, and with those expected to come back in, they surely will put in a more spirited effort.
With defeat being unacceptable and a draw hardly ideal, Spurs must find something to take all three points, and they may just have the individual quality to snatch a result in a group which has produced very few goals so far.