1 goal, 3 dribbles, 104 touches – Spurs midfielder shines v Sunderland

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Christian Eriksen produced another assured display at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

The question of who Tottenham Hotspur’s best buy when Gareth Bale left the club was seems to get easier and easier.

Indeed, the more time passes, the more it appears that Christian Eriksen is easily Spurs’ most talented player – and the more it appears Erik Lamela is not quite ready to make his mark.

Lamela, at 22, looks bright and full of potential. But, on days like yesterday, he looks like he is not the finished article.

Eriksen, by contrast, is the same age and seems as though he has been a Premier League player for years.

As Opta stats show, Eriksen was Tottenham’s best player (statistically, anyway) even though they dropped two points at Sunderland when Mauricio Pochettino’s side should really have left Weirside with a win.

The Dane made more accurate passes than any other Spurs player and completed more final-third passes than anyone else. And Eriksen also won as many dribbles and created as many chances as anyone else in a Tottenham shirt – though Lamela was equal to him in this department.

The 22-year-old’s influence is perhaps defined, however, by the fact that he took 104 touches on the ball, more than anyone else in Pochettino’s side. Add to those figures the goal the Dane scored to put his side 2-1 up and you have a performance that could potentially get him into any team in the Premier League.

What more is to come from Eriksen? By the looks of it, a season of fine form. Some of his team-mates could learn a trick or two from the young midfielder.