Already reeling from one dose of knockout heartache, Tottenham Hotspur could see another shot at silverware pass them by when they travel to the West Midlands for Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round date with Aston Villa.

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As some Spurs fans might have feared, a 1-0 first-leg win over Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-finals was nowhere near enough, as Postecoglou's hopes of fulfilling his second-season trophy prophecy took another significant hit at Anfield in midweek.

Cody Gakpo's opener, Mohamed Salah's penalty, Dominik Szoboszlai's tidy finish and Virgil van Dijk's header completed a ruthless Liverpool turnaround and sent the Reds into the EFL Cup final at Spurs' expense, as the Lilywhites were subjected to a rude awakening after a rare positive in 2025.

Last weekend's 2-0 Premier League London derby win over Brentford ended Tottenham's terrible four-match losing run in the top flight, but a top-half place in the table remains out of reach for the time being, and they are still closer to the relegation zone than the European places points-wise.

There is an argument to be had that Tottenham's FA Cup third-round clash with Tamworth was just as pitiful as their loss to Liverpool in midweek; the final scoreline may have read 3-0, but Spurs were taken to extra time by their non-league opponents, who were not short of chances to pull off a major upset in the 90.

Nevertheless, the only fact that matters is that Postecoglou's men are in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and the North London outfit have won four of their last five matches at this stage of the competition, although their one loss in that sequence came in last year's edition to Manchester City.

Hosts Aston Villa also left it late to punch their ticket to the FA Cup fourth round, albeit not extra-time late, as Amadou Onana and Morgan Rogers cancelled out a Lucas Paqueta opener in a 2-1 success over Graham Potter's West Ham United on January 10.

However, Unai Emery's men have picked up just two victories from their subsequent six matches across all competitions, and only one from their last five, although that 4-2 beating of Celtic was critical to their progression to the last 16 of the Champions League.

All season long, however, the Lions have been found wanting in their next Premier League game immediately after a Champions League match, and that worrying trend continued at Molineux, where Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha propelled Wolves to a 2-0 derby win.

The Lions have often counter-acted unsuccessful away days with pleasing home displays, though, as their unbeaten run at Villa Park now stands at 10 games in all competitions since October's EFL Cup defeat to Crystal Palace, although they are without a clean sheet in six on home soil.

Sticking with the theme of Aston Villa shipping goals, the Lions have conceded four in each of their last two matches with Tottenham - unsurprisingly losing both of them - but Emery's men won all three of their meetings in 2023 and will be under no illusions that they hold the favourites tag for this tie.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Olsen; Garcia, Kamara, Konsa, Maatsen; Tielemans, Onana; Rogers, McGinn, Ramsey; Malen

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Kinsky; Porro, Danso, Davies, Spence; Bissouma, Bentancur, Bergvall; Kulusevski, Tel, Son