The Tottenham star has upped his game this season, and is in influential form ahead of the North London derby.
Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil (L) and Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen in action
Sunday’s crunch derby match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal is a fixture that never fails to captivate the footballing world, and in recent years, as the two sides have become more evenly matched, the game is often settled by one player writing his name into folklore. This year that man could be Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen.
Though the likes of Harry Kane and Alexis Sanchez are many people’s picks to have a major impact on the way the 90 minutes go, Spurs playmaker Eriksen has been in sensational form in recent months, and is arguably an under-appreciated member of Tottenham’s title chasing side.
Wednesday’s stunning long range strike to settle a closely contested away trip to Crystal Palace was the cream on top of another impressive performance, with the Dane tenacious versus opponents and dangerous when in possession.
And only last weekend Eriksen produced two of the assists of the season for Tottenham’s goals in the FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea, one with each foot.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen celebrates scoring against Palace
This season, after a slow start, the 25-year-old has been superb. He has netted 12 times and assisted 20 goals, a contribution to scoring that his best yet in England.
In fact, since moving to Spurs in 2013, only Arsenal’s much vaunted assist machine Mesut Ozil has outperformed Eriksen when it comes to assists, attempted assists and big chances created – but the Denmark international is the one making the waves right now.
Top three Premier League goal creators since 2013-14
| Position | Team | Goal Assist | Total Att Assist | Big Chance Created | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesut Özil | MF | Arsenal | 39 | 365 | 44 | 22 |
| Christian Eriksen | MF | Tottenham | 35 | 364 | 42 | 31 |
| David Silva | MF | Man City | 34 | 320 | 38 | 23 |
Eriksen is way ahead of the German in terms of goals scored, but could further underline that he is the top playmaker in London with another match winning performance, especially when you look at the stats for this season.
Performances in the 2016-17 season
| Position | Team | Goal Assist | Total Att Assist | Big Chance Created | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Eriksen | MF | Tottenham | 12 | 97 | 13 | 8 |
| Mesut Özil | MF | Arsenal | 6 | 73 | 5 | 7 |
With four goals and six assists in his last eight games in all competitions, it would be no surprise if Eriksen demonstrates his quality once again against Tottenham’s fierce rivals, either through another sublime assist or a match winning strike.
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