Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a 'triple whammy' of blows as the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League took an unexpected twist with events of the past few days.
Reeling from the loss of Heung-Min Son until possibly the end of the month while he represents South Korea at the Asian Cup, as well as the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, Tottenham were dealt some worrying news as their talisman Harry Kane has been ruled out for at least six weeks
The England forward won't train until at least the beginning of March after sustaining an ankle injury in the defeat to United and it leaves Spurs desperately short of options up front.
Son would have been the obvious solution to fill in for Kane but he is on international duty, which means Dele Alli could even be used in a forward role, with Lucas Moura set to come back into the side after recovering from a knee injury. Fernando Llorente is the other option to replace Kane but the 33-year-old has been linked with a move away during this transfer window after playing just 36 minutes of Premier League football this season.
Llorente's return of nine goals from 44 appearances in all competitions during his time in North London doesn't exactly get pulses racing and it remains to be seen if Spurs delve into the transfer market for new signings.
In the short-term, Tottenham's odds of finishing in the top-four have drifted out from 1/12 to 1/6 following the events of the last few days - it would take some collapse for them to miss out from here.
Tottenham's recent woes have given Manchester United fans reason to believe again though as they have embarked on a six-match winning run in all competitions since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was confirmed as the interim replacement for Jose Mourinho.
After opening his reign with a 5/1 win at Cardiff on 22nd December - when United were as big as 10/1 for a top-four finish with some bookmakers - Solskjaer has moved the Red Devils to within six points of fourth-placed Chelsea, and to within seven of Tottenham in third.
United are now 9/4 to secure a top-four spot this season, while even Arsenal were trimmed in from 13/2 to 11/2 on Tuesday (odds according to Betting-Directory).
Much will depend on how Tottenham cope with the absence of Kane, who has scored a stunning 119 league goals for Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino was appointed manager in 2014. Kane has missed just 13 top-flight matches during Pochettino's reign, with Spurs winning five, drawing four and losing four without their main man.