Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have all written off Tottenham's title chances ahead of facing Aston Villa.

Spurs sparked talk they could mount a surprise title challenge under new boss Ange Postecoglou after hitting the top of the Premier League during a strong start to the season. But after going unbeaten until November, they have lost their last two matches against Chelsea and Wolves to slip down to fourth in the table.

They have also been hit by injuries to key players like James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison and suspensions for Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie. Lineker, Shearer and Richards discussed Spurs in the latest The Rest Is Football podcast, after their dramatic 2-1 defeat at Wolves following injury time goals from Mario Lemina and Pablo Sarabia.

"It's so difficult because, like you said, the feel good factor, and it just shows," said Richards. "We said can Spurs challenge for the league, and we were saying look at the squad, we don't think the squad is deep enough.

"They lack something. I felt sorry for Eric Dier because they actually did defend well for large parts of the game. But in the key moments, when you have got Romero and van de Ven and that partnership, then you have (Ben) Davies and Dier to come in, it was so difficult and they couldn't hold on."

"They have still had a good start to the season," Shearer added. "The fans are happy and it seems like a really good camp and he (Postecoglou) has done a really good job. None of us expected them to challenge for the title at all did we?"

"No," Lineker replied. "I don't think any of us had them in the top four!"

"It would be an unbelievable season for Spurs to finish in the top four which might have to be the target for them right now," said Shearer.

Villa will face Spurs away in their first league match after the international break, with Tottenham in fourth place and just one point above Unai Emery's Villa in fifth.