Three winners and three losers from Tottenham’s 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa

Tottenham Hotspur have tasted the bitterness of defeat for a second consecutive match and this time it has cost them their place in the FA Cup.

We’ve selected three winners and losers from Saturday night’s clash which saw Tottenham Hotspur exit the FA Cup at the earliest possible opportunity.

Wilson Odobert scored for Tottenham

Mathys Tel had his moment on the left wing against Bournemouth and Wilson Odobert has also experienced his time in the spotlight with a goal against Aston Villa.

Randal Kolo Muani did well to win the ball and lay it off to Odobert, but a good finish was still required from the young Frenchman.

Odobert made no mistake as he struck the ball into the bottom left corner, which put Spurs back in the game when all hope seemed lost.

Dominic Solanke made his long awaited return from injury

There was a lot of confusion when Christmas had been and gone, yet Dominic Solanke was still not match fit for Tottenham.

The striker’s injury was not initially thought to be something serious, but it has kept him out for almost five months.

However, Solanke made his return against Aston Villa and he got a few minutes towards the end of the game. With a full week until Spurs face West Ham, the 28-year-old could find himself in contention to start that fixture.

Xavi Simons had another good performance for Spurs

Tottenham fans were generally quite pleased with Xavi Simons after he returned from suspension and put in a solid performance against Bournemouth.

The former RB Leipzig playmaker had another good game on Saturday and he was part of the reason Spurs looked more lively in the second half.

Simons’ passing was on point against Aston Villa and he played some good long balls while also landing two shots on target. He could prove to be a very important player to Thomas Frank amidst the ongoing injury crisis.

Richarlison picked up an injury

Since joining Tottenham, Richarlison has had a dreadful injury record and it seemed like the Brazilian could never catch a break. However, he had been match fit all season until now, allowing him to become a regular first-team starter.

Unfortunately Richarlison has run out of luck because he had to be taken off against Aston Villa after just 31 minutes due to a suspected hamstring issue.

With Solanke back in the team, Richarlison has got injured at the worst possible time on an individual level. If the Englishman performs well in his absence, it will make things tough when he returns.

Archie Gray was anonymous in the Tottenham midfield

It was great to see Archie Gray score his first senior goal against Crystal Palace, but he is well and truly ghosting at the moment for Spurs.

Gray made the least number of touches out of every player who saw out the full 90 minutes on Saturday and he made very few notable contributions throughout the match.

The England under-21s international should continue to start for Tottenham based on the fact most of their other midfielders are unavailable, but he needs to do more to make an impact. Joao Palhinha was the far superior player in the middle of the park for the hosts.

The Spurs trophy cabinet will be bare by the end of the season

Our final loser from Saturday night is not a player, rather it is a static piece of furniture – and no we are not talking about former Tottenham flop Tanguy Ndomble.

The Tottenham trophy cabinet finally regained its purpose after 17 long years back in May, but any chance of the team winning a trophy this season is all but gone.

Spurs are simply nowhere near good enough at this present time to win the Champions League and that means there will be no silverware coming to this side of North London. This might not be the case a bit further south and on that note we have absolutely no shame in wishing Manchester City and Aston Villa all the best as they compete for the Premier League title.

READ MORE – Tottenham player ratings vs Aston Villa – 4/10 for ineffective midfielder as Spurs exit FA Cup

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