Lamela in, Sigurdsson out: This is Spurs’ strongest midfield combination

Mousa Dembele and Paulinho

With the departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid over the summer transfer window, Tottenham had plenty of money to play with. And play with it they did—splashing the cash in a big way to recruit several high-profile midfielders to White Hart Lane including the likes of Paulinho, Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and several others. However, while it’s given Spurs plenty of options in midfield to work with this season, it’s also given Andre Villas-Boas a big question to answer as to what, exactly, is his best midfield combination.

Obviously the starting five will change depending on their opponents and whatever European commitments they might have during the week, but even still, there’s a clear standout five in terms of their effectiveness and completeness as a team.

DCM: Paulinho

Paulinho has quickly adjusted to his London life and has already become a focal part of Tottenham’s attack—yet to miss a single minute of domestic action this season.

Paulinho offers them a great passing threat (shown in his 14 goalscoring chances created), but also offers them a threat when he opts to run at attackers. The 25-year-old has won 11 of his 16 attempted take-ons this season and that has led to 28 shots as well, close to half of which have been on target.

For a player perhaps more suited to a No. 10 role than a defensive midfield one, Paulinho’s defensive work-rate—which has seen him win 73% of his tackles— has been solid enough to allow him to continue to operate from a deeper position without sacrificing anything in defense.

Paulinho Duels Won

DCM: Moussa Dembele

Signed from Fulham in the summer of 2012, Moussa Dembele was forced to do a lot more work defensively in Spurs’ midfield than he did at the Craven Cottage, with Sandro getting injured. However, what that’s done is turn Dembele into a very complete midfielder, with his 88% tackle success rate and 93% take-on success rate shows how unique he is as a central midfielder.

Mousa Dembele Duels Won

He ranks fifth in the Premier League for total take-ons (and a clear first in terms of percentage), and with a pass accuracy above 90% this season as well, it’s little surprise to see him ranked as Tottenham’s best player so far this year.

LW: Erik Lamela

Yet to make a start in the Premier League this season, the selection of Erik Lamela here might be somewhat of a controversial one (especially given the good form of Gylfi Sigurdsson since the start of the season).

However, in terms of talent and potential to replace what Bale provided on the left last season, there’s simply no other player that can be picked here for Spurs. In their recent Europa League match against Sheriff, Lamela was simply devastating on the right-wing; scoring a goal and completing a staggering 11 of 16 attempted take-ons.

For those wondering just how good that is, Tottenham made 19 successful take-ons, as a team.

Erik Lamela Heat Map

Lamela does have a while to go until he completely proves himself in the Premier League and even before he wins a regular starting spot in Spurs’ midfield it seems. But as he showed last season at Roma—with a staggering 24% conversion rate—his blistering pace and devastating skills are certainly capable of causing havoc on the left for the Londoners in 2013.

Erik Lamela

CAM: Christian Eriksen

Tottenham have plenty of candidates to fill the No. 10 role for them this season, but none come with the same credentials as Christian Eriksen.

A star at Ajax, Eriksen has adapted well to Premier League life and is starting to make a big impact—now ranked third in Spurs for goal-scoring chances created despite only making seven appearances so far.

Spurs Top Chance Creators This Season

Like Lamela, he too will take time to adjust to Tottenham’s play, but with Champions League experience and fantastic vision with the ball at his feet, Eriksen will no doubt become a vital player this season.

RW: Andros Townsend

A highly-contested position at the start of the year, there can be no arguments about the inclusion of Andros Townsend on the right-wing. The 22-year-old has been simply devastating out on the wing this season, and while he does need to continue his skills in terms of his diversity in attack and willingness to hit the by-line, there’s no doubts about his talents.

They’ve been on display since the beginning of the 2013-14 Premier League season.

Andros Townsend

Townsend ranks first at the club for goal-scoring chances created, with his 55 successful take-ons also more than any other player in the Premier League.

And given his keen eye for goal, it surely won’t be long before his goal-scoring tally also starts to rise.