‘That was the key’ - Pundit highlights which player Tottenham Hotspur missed against Leicester City

Speaking on BBC’s Match of the Day, pundit Alan Shearer believes Tottenham Hotspur desperately missed Cristian Romero in defence this weekend. Antonio Conte’s side were thumped 4-1 away at Leicester City.

The London club went into their game at the King Power Stadium in confident mood after their 1-0 win at home to Manchester City last time out. However, they were defensively poor against the Foxes.

Romero was suspended after getting sent off against Pep Guardiola’s side and Japhet Tanganga came in for him. Spurs also opted to start January deadline day signing Pedro Porro, despite Emerson Royal’s impressive performance against the current champions last week, but the new boy had a difficult debut.

Shearer has highlighted what he thought went wrong for Conte’s men: “When you look at how solid they were last week and the performance that they put in and then you look at them today. Romero was missing, that was the key, there is no doubt about that. They are a better team (with him in).

“They were dreadful defensively. They were all over the place. I mean (Eric) Dier, Tanganga, Pedro Porro.”

He added: “It could have more, it should have been more.”

Danny Murphy said: “I think tactically Brendan (Rodgers) did Conte today. The two wide men stayed wide a lot, they caused problems against the three (at the back). The wing-backs didn’t know whether to go high or drop off.”

Spurs will be eager to bounce back from their loss as soon as possible. They are in Champions League action this week away at AC Milan before they take on West Ham at home next Sunday.

Hugo Lloris is out injured for the next couple of months and second choice Fraser Forster stepped in for him against Leicester. The 34-year-old has made five appearances in all competitions this term.