Conte elects against Tottenham rotation
Antonio Conte had the perfect opportunity to rotate his Tottenham team for Wednesday's game against Brighton & Hove Albion ahead of a big weekend for the club. On the losing side last Saturday following a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United, the Italian could have elected to give some of his players a breather prior to the home encounter against West Ham.
However, he opted against doing so and instead kept faith with the team that lost at Old Trafford last time out. That meant players such as Davinson Sanchez, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn remaned on Spurs' bench for the showdown on the south coast.
Perhaps not good for the aforementioned trio that there doesn't seem to be any way into Conte's XI at present, his selection does, however, indicate that the team he fielded is his preferred one. Providing that there are no injuries ahead of Sunday, the boss will more than likely go with the same players again against the Hammers.
READ MORE: Tottenham player ratings: Harry Kane and Bentancur make their mark as do Romero, Dier and Davies
Bentancur's bizarre moment
Almost taking the lead early on through Harry Kane, Spurs had started the stronger out of the two sides and were in control of proceedings. Brighton, on the other hand, hadn't done anything of note to trouble the Lilywhites.
However, Spurs captain Hugo Lloris was nearly called into action after Rodrigo Bentancur's clearance almost went horribly wrong. Believing that one of the Brighton players had been fouled midway inside the Spurs half and that a free-kick had been awarded, the January signing punted the ball away towards his own goal.
Bentancur was about 30 yards out when he decided to hit the ball in the direction of Lloris and for a split second it looked as if it was going to go over the shot-stopper's head and drop in. Thankfully that wasn't the case and instead Brighton were awarded a corner that resulted in nothing.
Missing big chances
Netting the opener through Cristian Romero in the 37th minute, Spurs really should have been one goal to the good prior to then after Kane missed a glorious opportunity. Closing down Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and winning the ball, the England captain had an open goal to aim at but got his effort all wrong as it went wide of the target.
Luckily for Kane his blushes were spared when Dejan Kulusevski's shot from outside the box took a deflection off Romero and found the bottom corner. Certainly needing another goal to give themselves a bit more breathing space, Spurs should have netted a second just before the half-time whistle when Shane Duffy's header hit Kulusevski and played the attacker in.
Looking on course to score as he opened his body up to slot past Sanchez, the Spaniard made a vital save with his leg to deny the Swedish international. Both Kane and Kulusevski really should have scored and thankfully for Spurs the misses didn't prove costly.
Romero yellow card concern
Romero's recent spate of yellow cards continued on Wednesday evening with the Argentina defender receiving yet another one. Referee Robert Jones really didn't have a choice but to caution the summer signing after a late foul on Brighton's Alexis MacAllister, with the player not long after having words with Marc Cucurella which was a situation the team needed to get him away from.
The 23-year-old's latest yellow card means he has now collected five in his last ten appearances since returning from the hamstring injury he sustained back in November. The worry for Spurs is that Romero is very close to picking up a two-game suspension as he has now received eight yellow cards in the Premier League.
A total of ten yellow cards picked up up to and including a team's 32nd game of the season will result in a two-match ban. Now having played 28 league games, Romero needs to avoid picking up two yellows in Spurs' next four fixtures or else he will have to sit out at such a crucial time in the season.
Top-four hopes still alive
Conte made it clear in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Brighton match that it was imperative that his Tottenham team kept within touching distance of their top-four rivals. They did just that with the 2-0 victory on the south coast.
The Lilywhites have missed numerous chances over the past few months to take control in the race for fourth but their inconsistent form has seen them slip down the table as a result. However, the results of others has seen them stay in the race when in another season they could have found themselves out of the running by now.
All Spurs need to do between now and the final day is keep on winning and hope results go their way. Given the inconsistent scores when it comes to the top-four battle, it really could go right down to the wire.
