I see this summer being a hugely positive one for Tottenham, despite their talisman Gareth Bale jumping ship to Real Madrid. They secured a deal for Roberto Soldado, who has already scored two in three games, and also added cover to the wider areas of the field in the shapes of Nacer Chadli and Erik Lamela, as well as getting Andros Townsend back.
After giving the boot to Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Scott Parker, it is the middle of the pitch that looks the strongest, so we have decided to have a look at the statistics from this season – despite being in the very, very early stages of the new campaign.
Our chosen five in the Spurs central positions are Paulinho, Sandro, Mousa Dembele, Etienne Capoue and Gylfi Sigurdsson, as Lewis Holtby is yet to feature.
Don’t take these too seriously, the early stages don’t mean an awful lot.
1st = 5 points
2nd = 4 points
3rd = 3 points
4th = 2 points
5th = 1 point
Pass accuracy: In terms of accuracy, Mousa Dembele comes out on top with 94% of his 103 passes reaching their target.
In second is Etienne Capoue with 89%, third is Paulinho with 88%, while fourth place is taken up by Gylfi Sigurdsson with 84%. Sandro brings up the rear with 64%.
Dembele = 5
Capoue = 4
Paulinho = 3
Sigurdsson = 2
Sandro = 1
Shooting: Again, Dembele is streaks ahead with his shooting, hitting the target with both shots he’s had.
Sigurdsson has been on target with 50% of his two, Paulinho with 38% of his eight, and Capoue with 33% of his three. Sandro is yet to have a shot, so gets 0%.
Dembele = 10
Sigurdsson = 6
Paulinho = 6
Capoue = 6
Sandro = 1
Duels Won: Perhaps surprisingly, Dembele takes the gold medal again with 65% of his duels being won.
Sandro is a close second on 63%, while Capoue has so far accumulated 59%. Paulinho has won 58% of his, and Sigurdsson 56%.
Dembele = 15
Capoue = 9
Paulinho = 8
Sigurdsson = 7
Sandro = 5
Creativity: Paulinho has created four chances so far this season, so he takes the top spot this time.
Dembele has three, Sigurdsson has two, and Capoue has one. Sandro is yet to make a key pass.
Overall score:
Dembele = 19
Paulinho = 13
Capoue = 11
Sigurdsson = 9
Sandro = 6
Again, this doesn’t tell us a huge deal at this point of the season, especially as the likes of Sandro have had minimum game time, so take these statistics with a pinch of salt.
all statistics provided by Squawka.