The Tottenham Hotspur playmaker struggled to make a difference against the Premier League champions.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen in action against Leicester
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen played 90 minutes during the North Londoners’ home draw against Leicester City, but he will not have been too happy with his performance against the Premier League champions.
The Dane was awarded a new four-year deal in December, having played a significant part in the club’s assault on the title last season. But this year the 24-year-old has been unable to push on and shine for the Lilywhites, and is still yet to find a goal in his nine Premier League appearances.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen struggled in the goalless draw at Bournemouth
Alternating between playing in a deeper central midfield position and playing out left, Eriksen hasn’t really managed to demonstrate his influence in games this campaign, when in fact Spurs fans will have hoped he would add a little more consistency to the quality he is capable of producing.
Tottenham’s draw with Leicester was their third in a row in this year’s Premier League, and sees them drift away from those at the top of the league. Below are Eriksen’s statistics from the match:
| Through Balls Attempted | Final 3rd Passes | Accurate Pass | Passing Accuracy | Ontarget Scoring Att | Duels For Possession Won | Ontarget Att Assist | Big Chance Created | Dispossessed | Won Tackle | Touches | Successful Take Ons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Eriksen | 0 | 15 | 33 | 75% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 0 |
Although Eriksen has had his moments this seasons, like his role in an impressive performance against Manchester City, they have been few and far between, and his match against Leicester was another frustrating afternoon for supporters.
With just 33 accurate passes and a 75% pass rate, Eriksen was one of the weaker passers in the Tottenham side, something that should not be said of a player with his footballing brain. His set piece taking was poor too, despite having a number of attempts from range.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen reacts after a missed chance
Though his final third passes and entries were decent enough compared to the rest of his teammates, an inability to conjure something magical was more than apparent, as the Dane failed to attempt any through balls during the match and didn’t create clear cut chance.
More of a problem than Eriksen’s passing however was his inability to duel for the ball. Against Manchester City, he was excellent in this respect, tackling and turning over possession a number of times. Against the Foxes, Eriksen struggled to match Leicester’s commitment. He made zero tackles and had the lowest number of duels won out of any central midfielder other than Harry Winks, who played a handful of minutes.
Christian Eriksen is undoubtedly an excellent player, and at times at Spurs he has shown that he can be a match winning, world class player. But how long ago does it seem that he scored the winner at the Etihad? Unless he pulls that kind of game or goal of the bag more often, he is going to be someone who doesn’t do his talent justice. This run of draws was crying out for the former Ajax man to stand up and make a difference.
A great time to produce such a performance would be against Arsenal next Sunday.
Christian Eriksen celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring the second goal for Tottenham against Manchester City last season
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