Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies was fortunate not to connect with Ashley Young in the challenge which earned him a yellow card, according to Dermot Gallagher.

What's been said?

Antonio Conte's Spurs were handed yet another disappointing result on Sunday as they hosted Aston Villa and saw Unai Emery's men take all three points back to Villa Park. And it was a display which saw referee John Brooks dish out the cards.

All three of Tottenham's centre-backs were handed yellow cards during the first half of the game in north London but there may be some who feel as if Davies was fortunate not to have been shown a red.

The Wales international appeared to go leaping into a challenge with Young which left the Villa man in a heap on the ground after Davies dove into the challenge with his studs.

And having watched the replays, Gallagher has suggested the pair are fortunate Davies did not connect fully with Young as the nature of the challenge not only could've seen Davies sent off but also a serious injury to the 37-year-old Villa defender:

"I think it's not a wise challenge. I think it's a yellow card because what happens is he seems to go two-footed, but when he actually arrived he actually arrived one-footed," Gallagher said on Sky Sports Ref Watch.

"Two things is he lands just in front of the player, which is lucky for Ashley Young. And luckily for the player, he didn't go that extra half a yard because if you hadn't ended up on his shins it was definitely a red card."

A day to forget for Davies

It was yet again another dismal display from Conte's men which saw their hopes of Champions League football suffered another blow after only managing to salvage a draw against Brentford on Boxing Day.

Spurs' defensive woes seem to only get worse and worse as the weeks go on as the defeat to Villa made in 10 consecutive games in which the Lilywhites have conceded first.

And Davies has played a big role in this dismal Spurs defence of late with 14 appearances to his name in the Premier League alone this season (via Transfermarkt)

During the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Davies lost possession 14 times and did not manage to land either of his two crosses to one of his teammates (via SofaScore).

But in relation to the challenge on Young, we have to agree that it was an odd decision from the Welshman to make by going into the tackle in the manner which he did.

Not only was it endangering his opponent, but it also could have left Spurs even more vulnerable against Emery's men with one less player potentially on the pitch had he landed on Young.

With Spurs defending in the way they are at the moment, the last thing Conte could do with is a red card to one of his defenders.