Antonio Conte acknowledged Tottenham's confidence was "killed" after again conceding the first goal in their 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa.
Spurs began 2023 with only a second loss in their last nine matches played on New Year's Day, as second-half goals from Emiliano Buendia and Douglas Luiz gave the visitors all three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham, who missed the chance to return to the top four, have now conceded the opening goal in each of their last seven Premier League matches, doing so for the first time since November 2010.
They have also now conceded at least twice in seven consecutive league matches for the first time since November 1988 (eight).
Conte was missing the likes of Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur for Sunday's visit of Villa, and the Italian feels the lacking of a creative spark was detrimental for his side.
"In the first half, we played with good intensity," he told BBC. "We didn't concede anything, and we found a team that defended too deep. Then, we conceded this goal and then the confidence dropped for my players.
"We have to know that our life is this. We have to fight every game for one point or for three points. This is the truth, especially when you are without two or three important players and have difficulties.
"We have different characteristics. We don't have many players who are really good at beating the man. We don't have many creative players in our team. For sure, today was really difficult to find space in the first half.
"I'm sure that if we don't concede the goal, we could win the game instead. The goal that we conceded killed us in confidence and in many situations for sure. You have to try and improve and develop these players to be even stronger.
"We have conceded the first goal, and we try to play to score goals. We understand very well that the league will be really difficult for us.
"We have to try to recover all the [injured] players, and then we have to know that in every game, we have to fight and show that we are strong."
Tottenham return to action on Wednesday with a trip to London rivals Crystal Palace.
Martinez back in Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers
Emiliano Martinez has been recalled by Argentina for this month's World Cup qualifiers versus Paraguay and Peru after serving a two-match suspension.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper sat out a 1-1 draw with Venezuela and a 6-0 rout of Bolivia in October after being banned for "offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play" by CONMEBOL.
Martinez had made a lewd gesture with the Copa America trophy ahead of a match against Chile in September, then hit a local television camera after a loss to Colombia.
Valencia midfielder Enzo Barrenechea has been handed his maiden call-up by Lionel Scaloni, while Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho and Leicester City's Facundo Buonanotte have also been recalled.
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi will lead the world champions – who are top of the CONMEBOL qualification group with 22 points – in Paraguay on November 14, before they host Peru five days later.
Argentina squad: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Walter Benitez (PSV), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Nehuen Perez (Porto), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Enzo Barrenechea (Valencia), Thiago Almada (Botafogo), Facundo Buonanotte (Leicester City), Nicolas Paz (Como), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Juventus), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Valentin Castellanos (Lazio).
Al-Nassr 5-1 Al-Ain: Ronaldo on target in AFC Champions League win
Cristiano Ronaldo powered Al-Nassr to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Asian Champions League Elite holders Al-Ain on Tuesday.
The victory carried a sense of redemption for Al-Nassr as they avenged last season's semi-final defeat to the same opposition on their way to lifting a second title in the competition.
Talisca fired the hosts into a fifth minute lead with a well-taken effort from the edge of the box before Ronaldo poked home his 908th career goal just after the half-hour mark.
Visiting defender Fabio Cardoso then deflected Angelo's effort beyond Khalid Eisa to hand Al-Nassr a comfortable advantage at the interval.
Al-Ain did, however, pull one back early in the second half when Park Yong-woo's strike struck the post and went in off the back of Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento.
But the result was put beyond doubt late on when Wesley curled home Al-Nassr's fourth, before Talisca notched his brace in second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: Return of Ronaldo
After winning five Champions League across his glittering career, Ronaldo is now eyeing a first AFC Champions League crown with Al-Nassr.
The 39-year-old has six goals in eight appearances in the competition, with his goal against Al-Ain ending a three-game goal drought for Al-Nassr.
Ronaldo also registered a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.25 towards Al-Nassr's 2.67 total, while also producing more shots (eight) and touches in the opposition box (nine) than any other player on the pitch.
Slovan Bratislava 1-4 Dinamo Zagreb: Slovakian side still searching for first Champions League point
Dinamo Zagreb came back from a goal down to cruise to a 4-1 victory away to Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The home side scored just their second goal of the league stage to go ahead after just five minutes through forward David Strelec.
But their lead was short-lived, with Dinamo getting back on level terms just five minutes later after Dario Spikic cut inside and slotted into the near post after carrying the ball into the box.
The visitors were ahead after the half-hour mark as Petar Sucic headed Marko Pjaca's cross home.
They extended their lead in the 54th minute after Sandro Kulenovic tapped in from close range to finish off a lovely flowing move. But neither he, nor his side, were done there.
A fourth arrived in the 72nd minute, with Kulenovic curling home an effort from the edge of the penalty area.
The result left Slovan Bratislava bottom of the Champions League table, yet to earn their first point after four matches, while Dinamo are up to 10th on seven points with the later matches still to play.
Data debrief: Dinamo sitting pretty
Dinamo Zagreb have opened a six-point gap to the bottom eight in the Champions League table, having dropped just two points since their 9-2 demolition away to Bayern Munich.
Qualification for the play-off round would mark the first time that the Croatian side have ever progressed into the knockout stage in the competition.
Their victory, meanwhile, was the first time – excluding qualifiers – in which they have scored four goals away from home in the Champions League.
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