Stats highlight Spurs’ significant problems in central midfield

It is not much of a surprise to see Tottenham linked with defensive midfielders including Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Football Insider) and Gerson (Goal) given the fact the squad lacks natural ball winners in the middle of the park.

The stats compiled by Adrian Clarke at Premierleague.com highlighthow the North Londoners do not have a natural combative midfielder to break up opposition attacks following the loss of Mousa Dembele.

Clarke lists the top five midfielders to have won the most tackles this season along with the top five midfielders who have made the most interceptions. Unsurprisingly, not a single Spurs player makes either list.

While Tottenham’s need for a defensive midfielder is clear, the club have also been linked with more attacking midfield options like Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Daily Mail), Morgan Sanson ( Le10Sport via Tribal Football) and Gaetano Castrovilli (TuttoMercatoWeb).

Some Spurs fans may find this surprising given that the Lilywhites plenty of options in these areas in the form of Moussa Sissoko, Tanguy Ndombele, Gedson Fernandes, Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso.

However, the stats reveal that Tottenham’s midfielders have not had enough of an influence in the opposition half and in the final third.

Not a single Spurs player makes the top five with the most passes in the opposition third, touches in the opposition box, and shots from inside the box.

However, Winks does register in the top five when it comes to passing accuracy in the opposition half at 88.1%.

Spurs Web Opinion

Winks’ passing accuracy numbers are inflated partly because he prefers to take low-risk options more often than not. If Dele had remained fit for the whole season, I suspect he would have got into the top five midfielders for touches and shots from inside the box.

However, these stats do show that we not only have a problem when it comes to a lack of defensive awareness in midfield but also in terms of creative output.

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