Sunderland loanee DeAndre Yedlin vs Kyle Walker: Big question for Tottenham

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Sunderland’s DeAndre Yedlin is being outperformed by a substantial margin by his Tottenham counterpart. Will he be good enough to challenge for a place one day?

Kyle Walker’s outstanding start to the season for Tottenham has further solidified his claim to be the club’s starting full-back for several seasons to come.

The England international has bounced back from his injury which kept him out of World Cup 2014, and his indifferent form when he returned midway through last season.

One player who did impress at that tournament was USA international DeAndre Yedlin, with Tottenham subsequently buying him from Seattle Sounders.

Yedlin played just once as a substitute last season, and Tottenham have sent him on loan to Sunderland.

His performances for the Black Cats have been mixed, but as the comparison between the two players show, Yedlin is a long way behind his Tottenham teammate, who has very much earned his status as the American’s superior.

Walker’s tackling success is a staggering 94 per cent, and he also comes out on top over Yedlin in six of seven key areas. Yedlin is behind in both defensive and attacking areas, in some cases substantially so.

Tottenham already have summer signing Kieran Trippier sitting on the bench ready to deputise Walker if need be.

With Walker and Trippier in front of him, there is a big question as to whether Yedlin will ever (a) get the chance to make it at Tottenham, and (b) be good enough to do so.

Right now he has a lot to prove, and over the course of the season needs to close the gap on the Tottenham star in terms of his performances, particularly for a Sunderland side which is struggling and need defenders to tackle with success and win the ball back to relieve the pressure on the team.

With a full season under his belt, he may begin to show signs that he can do so, and put together a consistent run of form. Until that point, questions will remain.