Pundit believes these two players are to blame for Dele Alli’s poor form

Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli has been a shadow of his normal self this season as he has been unable to reach his usual creative and goal-scoring heights.

Alli has only notched five Premier League goals this season, his lowest tally since joining the club.

Dele scored 10 in his first season back in 2015/16, following up with 18 the next year, and nine last season.

While the Spurs midfielder is still young, he will surely be aiming to improve his goalscoring stats, with the 18 goal mark he previously set being a good target.

It’s not even as if Dele has simply been more creative this season, rather than scoring the goals, as he only has three assists in the Prem all campaign.

Just eight goal involvements across an entire season is not a healthy return for a player of such talent, but he has been asked to play a deeper role through large parts of the campaign.

Danny Higginbotham believes that Heung Min Son and Lucas Moura have actually hampered Dele Alli of late.

He said (Sky Sports Match Centre – 02/05/2019 11:40 am): “The way that Tottenham are playing at the moment with Son and Lucas Moura, they want to stretch the game. Therefore, space then inevitably is between the midfield and defence.

“If that’s compact then it makes it more difficult for the likes of Dele Alli and the likes of Eriksen to get on the ball. And that becomes a problem. Whereas, when Kane is playing it is a lot different.

“He’s such a special player. But I believe really good players they understand how to play with each other in terms of their strengths and weaknesses [in regards to Kane and Alli partnership].

“Therefore, that’s why I think at times, you look at Alli and that’s why he’s probably suffering a little bit [without Kane] – He [Alli] has had however many years of being outstanding and he’s having a little bit of a blip now.”

Spurs Web Opinion:

Dele Alli has always looked at his best when playing just behind Kane, almost like a centre forward. However, with Heung Min Son or Lucas Moura in the team, it provides less opportunity for Alli to get in such positions. Therefore, Dele has played a far deeper position this season, even being asked to fill in as a holding mid at times. If Spurs want to get the best from Alli in front of goal, they will have to give the team a re-shuffle to move him forward.

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