Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur: 3 reasons why Spurs lost the game | Premier League 2019/20

Brighton & Hove Albion cruised past an unsettled Tottenham Hotspur to claim their first victory of the season since opening day, and their first win at the Amex since March - when they beat Huddersfield Town.

The brand new strike partnership of Neil Maupay and young Aaron Connolly paid rich dividends, with the latter going on to bag a stunning brace.

Spurs lost quite a few minutes due to the blow suffered by Jan Vertonghen and the serious injury to their skipper, but from what we saw in the first half, it's safe to say that they needed a restart more desperately than Brighton.

In contrast to the hosts' nine efforts on goal, Spurs only mustered two, through Christian Eriksen, which was catching practice for Matt Ryan and the other being a sighter from Lucas Moura. Ultimately, that was all that tested the gloves of the Seagulls' goalkeeper. Brighton were clearly the far better side in the first half, as they thoroughly enjoyed their football and proved that they had a larger heart.

The 7-2 drubbing at home against German champions Bayern Munich seemingly had more psychological than a tactical effect on Mauricio Pochettino's charges, with regard to whom there are more questions than answers brimming.

On that note, we analyze three reasons behind Spurs' demoralizing defeat against Brighton.

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#3 Cheaply conceded goals

Brighton & Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League

A world cup winning captain, and an unquestionable servant for the club over a good number of years; Hugo Lloris is presently not in a happy space. He tried the famous Cruyff turn a week ago, shipped seven against the Bavarians and now spilt a cross from Pascal Gross straight to Maupay - who only had to head the ball from half a yard off the line.

Spurs had to respond after what befell in midweek, and Lloris certainly did not help himself or his team by committing yet another howler.

The second goal was allowed in a cheap manner as well. Credit young Connolly for expressing the right amount of desire to tuck home the second of the afternoon, but he should have had zero access to winning the cross.

Ben Davies was right in front of him, but he allowed the striker to get in front and flick it around him. All of a sudden, four months after their UCL final defeat, Spurs have a lot of fractures to fix within the club.

#2 Weary, tired legs after midweek humiliation

Harry Kane barely had a sight of Brighton's goal

As aforementioned, the thrashing in midweek probably had adverse effects on the minds of the players, as a result of which they failed to regroup and endured a 3-0 loss today.

There was more than just the scoreline to put Spurs fans off - their manager, who has been vocal about his views on the off-field matters, cut a frustrated figure on the touchline. Their prolific goalscorer had no shots on target. Their contract rebels once again let the team down.

More so, they looked both physically and mentally tired after a run of games. The likes of Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen have been constantly playing 90 minutes over the last week or so.

Brighton completely sucked the venom out of Spurs. There was hardly a moment where Son sprung into life, or Eriksen orchestrated play from the number 10 spot. A disjointed Spurs attack failed to win the second ball and most notably, cover as many yards as Brighton

#1 Lost the midfield battle against Graham Potter's side

Brighton & Hove Albion's Aaron Mooy worked his socks off in midfield

Ultimately, the scenario of where the game was won or lost was in midfield - an area complete congested and ruled over by the Seagulls.

They played with a 4-4-2, but the methodologies remained the same. The idea was to play out from the back, press in numbers and patiently try to carve open a defence that has failed to celebrate a clean sheet since the turn of the year.

Brighton thus, completely dominated the central areas of the pitch by suffocating the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Eriksen and Son. As a result, the opposition was forced to fight harder to transcend to the top end of the pitch.

Time and time again, they lost the ball, gifted it back to Brighton and were out=muscled by Potter's spirited side. Eventually, Spurs ran out of ideas ad struggled to commit many bodies forward.

Tactically, the decision to deploy Aaron Mooy and Pascal Gross in the wider areas to stretch the opposition backline but also prevent the Spurs' full-backs from charging forward was nothing short of masterful.