Villa boss Martin O’Neill has turned up the heat on Tottenham ahead of the Premier League clash by insisting they are favourites to break the big four’s monopoly.

Harry Redknapp’s side currently occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot and arrive at Villa Park tomorrow fresh from Sunday’s 9-1 thrashing of Wigan.

Villa are just a place and three points adrift of the north Londoners, while sitting above Manchester City and Liverpool, but O’Neill believes all three are more fancied to finish in the four golden spots.

He said: “Tottenham have proved they are very strong, I think Manchester City are very strong, I would say those two would be stronger favourites than ourselves.

“I see breaking into the top four being hard for anyone. I still think Arsenal haven’t lost designs on winning the title. Results have proved difficult for Liverpool at this stage but I still think they have vastly proved they are capable of being there or thereabouts. Let’s just see if we can hang in there until Christmas.”

O’Neill was at White Hart Lane to witness Spurs’ remarkable rout, in which Jermain Defoe scored five, and admitted it was impossible not to be impressed.

He added: “I went to the game. I thought Tottenham were very good indeed. They played very well and they looked very dangerous. They looked as if they were always capable of scoring goals and played very well.

“Defoe is definitely a goalscorer, no question about that. They were really on fire. We know it will be a very tough game for us.”