Not the start of the year Spurs wanted: Defensive flaws setting a limit on Spurs’ ambitions
Key takeaways:
- In his first match after winning the World Cup, Cristian Romero had a poor game for Tottenham.
- Douglas Luiz’s cheeky chip over Hugo Lloris at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on New Year’s Day denounced the hosts to a 25-year low.
Douglas Luiz’s goal meant Tottenham had conceded at least two times in seven straight league games for the first time since November 1988.
Tottenham’s misery continues:
It is a slightly believable stat for a team with Premier League title dreams – or at least to be sealed in the top four.
In 1988-89, the season in which they later had such a run, Spurs ended in sixth place. On the proof of their 2-0 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday, they cannot hope to seek better come May.
Tottenham missed some essential players in the line-up:
Spurs manager Antonio Conte indeed signalled as much in his post-match remarks.
Spurs were missing some great players opposite Villa – Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Rodrigo Bentancur – but France goalie Lloris and Argentina defender Cristian Romero, fresh from winning the World Cup, were back.
Blunders made by Spurs’ players:
Yet Lloris was liable for the starting five minutes into the second half, spilling Luiz’s long-range attempt and letting Ollie Watkins retrieve the loose ball and square for Emiliano Buendia to bang it home.
Conceding the first goal and committing individual mistakes have been threatening themes of Tottenham’s season.
They have conceded first in each of their previous seven Premier League games, the first time they have done so since 2010.
Regarding individual mistakes, Tottenham players have given the opponent five goals in the league this season, at least two more than any other club, with the broadly experienced Lloris liable for three of those.
