Tottenham have a mountain to climb away at Brighton as they trail 2-1 at the half-time interval.
The Lilywhites have made a bright start to the new Premier League season, but they have struggled badly at the Amex Stadium so far.
Thomas Frank rotated for Tottenham once again for Saturday’s clash, and it hasn’t paid off so far, with goals from Yankuba Minteh and Yasin Ayari building a first-half lead for the hosts, despite Richarlison’s reply.
The N17 outfit have been far from perfect in the opening period, but they have one man in particular to blame for the deficit that they are facing.
Guglielmo Vicario slammed by Clinton Morrison for error on second goal
Guglielmo Vicario has been largely reliable for Tottenham between the posts so far this term.
MORE SPURS STORIES
The Italian has been a key part of the backline that had kept three clean sheets from their opening four Premier League outings, but he has now provided plenty of frustration to Frank following a crucial error against the Seagulls.
The 28-year-old failed to get his body behind Ayari’s strike from distance, as the Brighton man put enough swerve and dip on his shot to deceive the visiting goalkeeper, despite Vicario getting a hand to the effort.
While it was not a glaring mistake from the former Empoli gloveman, you would certainly have expected a ‘keeper of his quality to have done better on that occasion.
Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison shared that belief on Soccer Saturday (3:31pm), as he took a swipe at Vicario.
“Oh my gosh,” he said.
“The ball moves, but Vicario should do way better. It’s poor goalkeeping.”
Guglielmo Vicario cannot afford to drop his levels at Tottenham
Vicario recently praised Tottenham’s increased attention to detail when it comes to their defending this season, and he plays a key role in that.
With that in mind, the gloveman simply cannot afford to allow his performance levels to slip, especially considering the lack of viable alternatives within the ranks at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Antonin Kinsky is hugely inexperienced at Premier League level, which means that the boss has little choice but to stick with his number one, even if his form continues to slide.
Key errors have been few and far between from Vicario over the last couple of seasons, and Spurs will need him to get this slip up out of his mind as quickly as possible.