Tottenham Hotspur are off to winning ways under Antonio Conte but they sure did make it difficult. After racing into a 3-0 lead, they conceded twice and went down to ten men, only to grind out a much-needed three points.
Let’s take a look at how the individual players got on:
Hugo Lloris – 9 – Nothing he could do with either goal but what a save from that long-range effort in the first half! He then went on and made two more great stops. Incredible stuff! Good distribution tonight too.
Emerson Royal – 8 – I thought he would struggle a little with his quality in the final third but he was brilliant all night. Made stuff happen and created chances galore. Really exciting to watch and seemed to have so much in the tank.
Cristian Romero – 4 – Can’t help but wonder whether he would be better in the centre though. Struggled to track wide runs and, of course, picked up that silly red card. Lucky it did not cost Tottenham the result.
Eric Dier – 6 – Usually his strong suit, Dier let his man go from a corner and allowed Vitesse back in the game. Needs to do better. In theory, a back three should be a great hybrid between his midfield and centre-back days. Time to step up.
Ben Davies – 6 – Lucky not to give away a penalty in the early minutes and struggled to keep up with the frantic pace. Perhaps needs more minutes to get back into the groove.
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Sergio Reguilon – 8 – A little bundle of energy. Left-wing-back was made for Reguilon. Loads of forward runs, great crosses, tracking back. He just plays at 100mph.
Oliver Skipp – 7 – His sat in front of the back line and shielded well in midfield. Got outnumbered a few times on the break, but not exactly his fault. Worked very hard.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6.5 – Definitely stepped forward a bit more than Skipp and joined in with the attack. Also worked very hard and got stuck in. Needed to do more with the ball at times.
Lucas Moura – 7 – Started the game so well with his direct running, pace in behind, and creativity. Deserved his goal but gave the ball away at the back to hand Vitesse their second. The good and the bad but Lucas looked extremely promising in general tonight.
Heung-min Son – 7.5 – Son has a really free role in this formation to drop back and get on the ball, run in behind, drift wide, go central, and track back when he can. I think we could see big things from him. Not sure about right-wing-back though.
Harry Kane – 7.5 – Definitely looked more comfortable and more up for it this evening. Even an out of form Kane will get chances in this formation so I’m excited to see him back amongst the goals. Did extremely well holding the ball and winning fouls at the end.
Substitutes:
Tanguy Ndombele – 6 – Came on in the second half and added a lot of energy.
Harry Winks – 6.5 – Pressed and held the ball really well after coming on.
Davinson Sanchez – 6.5 – Some very nice defending in the back three.
Giovani Lo Celso – N/A
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