Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has defended goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario ahead of their home game against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
Vicario reacted angrily and gesticulated towards Spurs fans in the stadium following their 1-0 defeat away to AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their last-16 Europa League tie on Thursday.
But despite his emotions getting the better of him, Postecoglou made it clear that he had his full support.
“Vic is very, very passionate about this football club and what we are trying to do here. He wants to win and he wants everyone on board with that,” said Postecoglou.
“If people think there’s a bad bone in his body then they don’t know him like I do. He is one of the purest human beings you can come across and he wants what is best for this team because he cares.”
The loss in the Netherlands was a seventh defeat in 12 matches in all competitions for Spurs, who are currently 13th in the Premier League table. Postecoglou, then, is targeting improved performances on Sunday.
“It’s about consistency and performance, not about raising our worst level,” he said.
“There are different ways of tackling those challenges and making sure that, at the bare minimum, we compete and get the baseline performances up.”
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Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, was full of praise for their opposition on Sunday.
“Whenever they are playing well they are difficult to stop. It’s true that they’ve had different games, games where they’ve played really well, games where they haven’t been as good. This is a place where if you want to get a result you have to be very good,” he said.
Going into the game, there is doubt about the fitness of Scotland international Ryan Christie, who has been suffering with a groin injury.
“I think it’s something chronic. He is dealing with some pain and I think it’s a situation that we will have to manage day by day,” said Iraola.
“I’m not ruling him out but also I trust Ryan a lot. He knows his body. It’s not an easy situation to deal with during the season. Probably he needs some rest but obviously he wants to continue playing and this is a situation we have to continue dealing with.”
“We will continue to deal with it. We are probably thinking about surgery or something like this and it’s better for everyone if it’s in the summer. But I’m not Ryan Christie and he has to see how he feels, if he can play or can’t play, decisions with the doctor, but he’s pretty good at managing it.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tottenham Hotspur – Dejan Kulusevski
Kulusevski travels with the ball on average 13.5 metres per carry in the Premier League this season, the most of any of the 44 players to have at least 300 carries this term.
The Swede comes into this with 11 goal contributions in the Premier League this season (seven goals, four assists), including a goal against Ipswich Town in his most recent start.
Bournemouth – Justin Kluivert
Kluivert is Bournemouth’s top scorer with 12 league goals this season, including two hat-tricks away from home.
Only Mohamed Salah (16) has scored more away goals in the Premier League this season than Kluivert (10), with the Dutchman’s 10 goals on the road the most ever by a Bournemouth player in a single top-flight campaign.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Spurs have lost seven Premier League home games this season, which is their joint-most in a 38-game season in the competition (level with 1996-97), while only in 1993-94 have they lost more (nine).
But conversely, Bournemouth have lost three of their last four Premier League games, which is as many as they had in their previous 18 (W10 D5).
Only Crystal Palace (-7.1) have underperformed their non-penalty xG figure by more than Bournemouth (-5.4) in the Premier League this season (44.4 xG, 39 goals).
The Cherries are unbeaten in their last 10 league matches when having a higher non-penalty xG figure than their opponent (W7 D3) but have lost their last three when having a lower figure.
Tottenham have won six of their seven Premier League home games against Bournemouth, with the exception being a 3-2 loss in April 2023, but following their 1-0 win at the Vitality Stadium in December, Bournemouth are looking to complete their first ever league double over Spurs.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Tottenham Hotspur – 37.1%
Draw – 24.4%
Aston Villa – 38.5%
