Tottenham Hotspur made it four wins on the spin, following up their emphatic 5-1 win over Newcastle, with a 4-0 victory away to Aston Villa.

A hat-trick from the in form Heung-Min Son, and a goal from January’s deadline day acquisition, Dejan Kulusevski, sent the Lilywhites into the top four – albeit having played a game more than their north London rivals Arsenal.

Kulusevski has six assists in the Premier League since his debut, and his goal against Villa was his third.

Not only has he been excellent in the final third, but he has also swiftly established himself as the link between attack and midfield, assisting in the build-up of Spurs’ lightning counter-attacks, a staple of Antonio Conte’s great teams over the years.

Meanwhile, Son has put himself in the hat for the golden boot, with the South Korean’s hat-trick helping him make it six goals in his last three games, and eight goals from the last seven.

Even though Tottenham broke the deadlock before the five-minute mark, the first half was closely contested as the visitors needed to dig deep through a difficult phase and weather the storm from Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.

Conte praised Spurs for their strength in the first half for holding out and showing some mental resilience in a difficult away fixture during his post-match interview.

Despite not scoring, Harry Kane recorded two assists and every week, the England captain seems to be improving, taking his tally to six assists in just the last three matches.

The fixture list during the run in suggest Tottenham have the upper hand over fellow top-four contenders Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham.

A fixture against Brighton is the next opportunity for Spurs to make a further statement on their intent to play Champions League football next season, especially considering the recent form of Arsenal and Manchester United.

Despite testing positive for Covid at the weekend, Tottenham expect Antonio Conte to be in charge for Saturday's encounter.

The rescheduled North London Derby on game week 36 looks likely to be a key fixture in the race for top four, with the winner likely to have a huge advantage going into the final two games of the season.