The man who unforgettably claimed that he "always" wins trophies in his second season with a club could still uphold that statement's accuracy come May, as Postecoglou witnessed his Spurs side complete an expected turnaround over AZ in their Europa League last-16 battle.

Two strikes from Wilson Odobert - including one from a magnificent team passing move - either side of a James Maddison finish earned Tottenham a quarter-final date with 2021-22 champions Eintracht Frankfurt, and a Peer Koopmeiners response from a Tottenham error proved meaningless in the grand scheme.

While Postecoglou will never publicly admit to prioritising one competition over another, the Australian will surely be allocating more of his time to Europa League preparation given that there is realistically very little at stake for Spurs in the Premier League between now and the end of the campaign.

Indeed, the 13th-placed Lilywhites are 12 points below the top-seven spots and 17 points clear of the relegation zone, meaning that a lacklustre top-flight season is likely now a write-off for the North London club, who at least showed guts and guile to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth last week.

Spurs have therefore only lost one of their last five Premier League matches and have won their last two top-flight contests on the road against Brentford and Ipswich Town, but now is the time for the superstitious fans to look away, as Tottenham have been beaten in each of their last five league games just before an international break.

One of those defeats coincidentally came to none other than Fulham this time last year, a harrowing 3-0 slaughter at Craven Cottage, and Marco Silva's men also held their own when they visited the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December and left with a 1-1 draw.

The Cottagers have remarkably only lost four of their subsequent 18 matches across all competitions, although one of those reverses came at the Amex last weekend, where despite drawing first blood through Raul Jimenez, they succumbed to a Jan Paul van Hecke and Joao Pedro-led revival.

Pedro's penalty in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time was a devastating blow to Fulham's European aspirations, although the 10th-placed hosts are still very much in the continental mix, only lying four points adrift of the top seven positions.

Consistency at home has been harder to come by for Silva's men in recent weeks, though, as Fulham have also won just one of their last seven Premier League fixtures at their Craven Cottage headquarters, drawing four and losing an additional two in that time.

Furthermore, the Cottagers only have the one clean sheet to show from their last 18 top-flight games on home turf, and that was against whipping boys Southampton in December's goalless draw, offering Spurs significant hope of bucking their pre-international break trend.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Pereira, Berge; Traore, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jimenez

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison; Odobert, Solanke, Son