Antonio Conte's incredible Tottenham transformation and the ten words that will concern rivals

It is now just over six weeks ago since Antonio Conte questioned his own future at Tottenham following their dismal 1-0 defeat away at Burnley. Victorious four days earlier with a stunning 3-2 triumph against Man City, Spurs crashed back down to earth with an almighty bang at Turf Moor.

A defeat that left many believing that chairman Daniel Levy would soon be on the search for a new manager, the Lilywhites have dramatically transformed their fortunes since that awful night in Lancashire. While there have been a few bumps in the road along the way since then, notably the FA Cup exit at Championship side Middlesbrough and their 3-2 defeat against Manchester United, Tottenham have won six of their last eight games in all competitions.

Their latest victory came on Saturday evening away at Aston Villa as they left the MIdlands with all three points following a 4-0 drubbing. However, if it wasn't for the heroics of Hugo Lloris in the first half then the scoreline could have looked rather different.

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Leading 1-0 after three minutes thanks to Son Heung-min's well-taken opener, Spurs' goalkeeper had to make seven saves in the opening 45 minutes with Villa putting the visitors under relentless pressure. The Frenchman's saves from Jacob Ramsey and John McGinn were top class, with the captain also doing well just before the break as Philippe Coutinho looked to catch him out at his near post with a free-kick.

Aston Villa really should have been ahead at the break rather than behind, with Lloris' brilliance enabling Tottenham to take a slender lead into the second period. Doubling their lead five minutes later as Dejan Kulusevski arrowed