Tottenham have it all to do in their remaining 26 league games after an abysmal opening to the 2019/20 season.
Predicted to close the gap on Man City and Liverpool at the top after adding to their squad in the summer, Mauricio Pochettino's side are a huge 20 points off the latter at the summit of the league table after only 12 games.
What's probably even more concerning for Spurs is that they are 11 points behind City in fourth and they really do face an uphill battle to retain their place in the Champions League for the fifth year on the trot.
Three points currently separate Sheffield United in fifth from Everton in 15th and a good run of wins can change a team's position dramatically at this stage of the season.
As we are now in the third international break of the season, Spurs fans will have to wait just over a week before the team return to action against West Ham at the London Stadium.
The game in east London starts a season-defining period for the team and it will set them up for the remainder of the campaign.
Teams always have a hectic schedule between now and Christmas and Spurs face nine games in the space of 33 days.
The home game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Boxing Day will take us to the halfway period of the Premier League season and it will give a good indication as to where they could well finish come May.
Spurs' Carabao Cup exit at Colchester United in September means they don't have an extra fixture to contend with in the final month of the year, yet they do have two Champions League games on the horizon as they bid to reach the knockout phase for the third successive campaign.
With a decent run of fixtures coming up in the league as they face Bournemouth and Burnley at home, the team do also have some tricky games on the agenda with Manchester United, Wolves and high-flying Chelsea all to come.
It really is a season-defining period for Pochettino and his side and they need to come out of it with as many points as possible if they want to finish the campaign high up the table.
Failure to do so and it will be an extremely long season for all involved.
Here are Spurs' next nine games in all competitions:
Saturday, November 23 - West Ham United (a)
Tuesday, November 26 - Olympiacos (h)
Saturday, November 30 - Bournemouth (h)
Wednesday, December 4 - Manchester United (a)
Saturday, December 7 - Burnley (h)
Wednesday, December 11 - Bayern Munich (a)
Sunday, December 15 - Wolves (a)
Sunday, December 22 - Chelsea (h)
Thursday, December 26 - Brighton & Hove Albion (h)
