Tottenham Hotspur Player Ratings from Loss to Leicester City
By Aaron Coe
Spurs Midfield
The Tottenham midfield was non-existent most of the afternoon as Sissoko and Højbjerg sat ultra deep to help with Vardy and there was only an attacking midfielder for half the match. Ultimately, Tottenham lost the game in the engine room, mostly because Tottenham did not have an engine.
Moussa Sissoko -5.5
Ran around most of the day, starting in the deep-lying two with Højbjerg. Ended his day playing right back after Harry Winks was brought on for Serge Aurier. Moussa completed a good percentage (89) of his 46 passes, however, none were really anything that put Leicester at risk. Both crosses missed and did not have one key pass. Spurs need more than just running around from the deep midfield.
Pierre Højbjerg – 6
Pierre Højbjerg simply sat too deep to have any real impact on this game. The match was dominated by Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans doing the work that Pierre Højbjerg should have been doing. Because the Tottenham backs need so much protection, Højbjerg spends far too much time going backwards and not enough time going forward. As such, his interceptions and tackles were down and Leicester had freedom across the middle of the pitch.
Tanguy Ndombele – 7
Tanguy Ndombele was the best of an abject midfield on the day, but for some reason he was taken off at halftime. Some might say he did not have enough touches with 20. However, he was 13 of 14 on his passing and had a couple of dribbles. When one considers James Maddison only had 29 passes and 52 touches total, Ndombele was at about the same pace as Maddison through the half. That said, I cannot explain why Ndombele came off and Lo Celso was left on, but it was one of the many mistakes on the day by the staff.