Spurs faced a slight setback in their pursuit of a top-four finish as they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Wolves continued their strong record on North London soil, securing victory in three of their last five away outings.
After the defeat, Tom Barclay, senior football writer for The Sun, stated the reasons behind Spurs’ defeat.
Barclay highlighted the significant absence of Tottenham’s starting full-backs, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, as a key factor in the loss.
Both players were sidelined for the match, with Udogie picking up a knock in the previous game against Brighton and Porro nursing a muscle injury.
Porro, in particular, has been pivotal as Tottenham’s primary creative outlet, recording 8 assists in the Premier League this season.
Meanwhile, Udogie’s contributions, including 4.51 progressive passes per 90 and 2.50 touches in the opposition penalty area, have been invaluable.
He also singled out Spurs’ star midfielder James Maddison, suggesting that he is still finding his rhythm after recently returning from injury.
Spurs badly missing Porro and Udogie today. Porro is almost their most creative player and Udogie is so unique in what he does. Maddison still finding his best form after injury too. Not a good day for them with Villa winning. Neto excellent again
— Tom Barclay (@TomBarclay_) February 17, 2024
In their absences, Ange Postecoglou was forced to deploy Emerson and Ben Davies in the backline as starting full-backs.
Neither of them are offensively good enough to play the role of the full-back that suits Ange’s style of play,
Unfortunately for Tottenham, the day worsened as their nearest rivals in the table, Aston Villa, secured a victory over Fulham, causing Spurs to drop out of the top four positions.
