After the third international break of the season, the Premier League is finally back, and Tottenham Hotspur have the small task of an away game against Manchester City to contend with.
Ange Postecoglou would likely have preferred an easier first game back, but given the Champions' recent struggles, now could be as good a time as any to try and come away from the Etihad with all three points.
However, to make things even harder for the North Londoners, they will be without several of their key starters as injuries have taken their toll, especially in defence.
That said, while losing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero is far from ideal, the manager can instead start someone who impressed at the Eithad last season and has mountains of experience to call upon.
Spurs' injury problems
As things stand, Spurs will be without six players for the game this afternoon due to injury.
In attack, Postecoglou will have to make do without Wilson Odobert, Richarlison and Timo Werner on the bench, who have been out for some time now, and Mikey Moore, who was ill before the international break and is still suffering the effects.
However, arguably, the biggest concern is in defence, as both starting centre-backs will miss out.
Van de Ven injured his hamstring in the League Cup clash with City last month, and unfortunately, the manager confirmed that he'll remain out until the "middle of December."
On the other hand, Romero injured his foot while on international duty with Argentina.
However, while his absence will be a massive miss, the prognosis isn't as bad, with the Australian revealing in his presser that while he "won't be right for tomorrow's game," the club are "hoping he'll be right for next week."
Overall, things aren't looking great for the North Londoners ahead of what will undoubtedly be an incredibly tough encounter.
Nevertheless, there is a player Postecoglou can turn to, a player who's already stood in for the club in this exact game before.
The Spurs ace who can step in against City
So, for those of you who remember, when Spurs travelled to the Etihad for a Premier League game last December, they were also without Van de Ven and Romero.
The former was due to another hamstring injury he suffered against Chelsea, and the latter was due to a straight red card he received in the very same match - when it rains, it pours.
So, with his arms tied, Postecoglou turned to his squad and opted to start Emerson Royal, who left in the summer, and a certain Ben Davies.
Despite playing two full-backs in the centre-back roles, the North Londoners came away from that game with a point in hand, and the Welsh veteran was a key reason why.
He put in an impressive performance against what was the best attack in the league and, by full-time, had earned a 7/10 match rating from respected Spurs writer Alasdair Gold, who wrote that he 'battled away at the back' and it was his 'diving header that ended up setting Spurs away for Lo Celso to score.'
On top of already showing that he can step in and cope with Pep Guardiola's juggernaut, the "outstanding" defender, as dubbed by the manager, has plenty of experience to rely on, which could help Radu Dragusin keep his cool alongside him.
For example, across his career, the 31-year-old veteran has made 337 appearances for the Lilywhites, 85 for Swansea City and won 89 senior caps for the Welsh national team, of which he's captained nine times in the last year.
Ultimately, Spurs are going to be in for a challenging game this afternoon, made all the tougher thanks to Van de Ven and Romero's absences, but with Davies in the side, they know that they can get a result at the Etihad.