Tottenham Player Ratings from Difficult 2-2 Draw at Chelsea
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham was organized defensively, but there was an error on the first goal marking at the back post, and then a poor turnover left the backline open for Chelsea’s second.
Rating Spurs Defence against Chelsea
Centre-back – Eric Dier – 7
Chelsea had a game plan to get Eric Dier one-on-one in space with one of their forwards. Dier held up well in the first half, running with Kai Havertz and Mason Mount. Dier likewise held up well, shoving Antonio Conte back into his technical area following Hojbjerg’s goal as the defender never lost his head. Dier had a solid match overall, avoiding mistakes and working to handle the intense Chelsea pressure.
Left-back – Ben Davies – 6.5
Still holding down the left-back position Ben Davies spent much of the game chasing around Sterling and Havertz. Davies did not see much of the ball in the attacking half but did find Hojbjerg and garner an assist when he did. Davies, like Lloris, was mostly helpless on James’ goal, as Chelsea pounced quickly following the Tottenham turnover.
Right-back – Cristian Romero – 6.5
Tottenham’s defensive enforcer was in a big tackle early and got his knee stepped on. Afterward, there seemed to be a little impact, but Cristian Romero was back to his big tackling best by the second half. Romero was in the battles all day against Havertz and Sterling. Went head-to-head with Havertz at one point, but only the Chelsea attacker received the card. The Argentine defender got lucky late by not being carded or penalized for a hair pull on Cucarella; moments later, Kane scored.
Goalkeeper – Hugo Lloris – 6
Hugo Lloris was helpless to do anything on the Koulibaly first-half volley but faced only one other shot on target in the first half, despite Chelsea’s dominance in possession. Poor efforts from Mason Mount in the first half and Raheem Sterling in the second half helped Lloris. However, the Frenchman was most fortunate when Havertz failed to finish from a cross just a few feet away from the goal. Unfortunately, Lloris would not be so lucky when James was open on the right a few minutes later. Lloris went one way, and James went the other with the ball and the lead.