After a crushing defeat on the season at Dinamo Zagreb, José Mourinho made seven changes before Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Aston Villa, including a second Premier League start for Carlos Vinicius.
There were two mandatory team changes, with Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier sick.
This gave Vinicius the opportunity to bring his impressive European scoring form to the Premier League. Mourinho also gave starts to Japhet Tanganga, Joe Rodon and Giovani Lo Celso.
Carlos Vinicius’ first Premier League goal helps Spurs win
Second start, first goal
Carlos Vinicius scored his first Premier League goal, a touch similar to many of his nine Spurs goals.
The Brazilian had a quiet first half at Villa Park but found himself in the right place to guide Lucas Moura’s center home.
His strength is definitely in his shot inside the area. With the right serve, Vinicius can contribute to the Spurs’ attacking force.
But it just doesn’t offer the same range of qualities as Harry Kane or Son Heung-min.
Kane and Vinicius
It’s a tough comparison, but Vinicius has fewer dimensions to his game than Kane or Son. This does not have to be a problem; Vinicius started upstairs with Kane. If Son was fit for the match, then he could have played a front of three with Vinicius.
Kane can often fall deeper like a number ten. But against Villa, Kane and Vinicius attacked together, queuing for centers in the area.
Whether it’s Kane scoring the goals or setting up Vinicius, the physical pairing of Kane and Vinicius is enough to keep most of the Premier League defenses occupied.
Vinicius doesn’t need to be a full center forward. Both Kane and Son are capable of creating magical moments. What the Spurs have in Vinicius is another scorer.
Unlike Vincent Janssen and Roberto Soldado before him, Vinicius is emerging as a reliable source of goal backing. Until his premature exit from the Europa League, Vinicius led Spurs’ scoring charts in Europe and was one of the top scorers in the competition at the time.
Now it’s a question of whether Vinicius can get more playing time in the Premier League. 14 of his 22 Tottenham appearances have been from the bench, including six Premier League cameos.
Battle of the forwards
The international break is approaching, giving Son a crucial moment to recover from injury. If he gets back in shape, he will surely pose the biggest threat to Vinicius starting the league, not to mention Gareth Bale.
It would not be surprising if Son or Bale returned to the starting eleven. They can simply do more than Vinicius to create those moments of magic.
Vinicius is likely to return to the bench, with no more Europa League playing time.
He’s still a good option from the bench, though, and if Mourinho can bring him on more regularly, then he can put Kane or Son to rest and allow this burgeoning Brazilian talent to begin to flourish.
For now, Vinicius can delight in helping his team reach sixth place, only three points separate them from rivals Chelsea and a place in the Champions League.
main photo
Insert from.
–
