The Pressing Problem at the Heart of Spurs-Liverpool

·Michael Caley

This season, Anfield has been a fortress. Liverpool have yet to lose at home, and of their five draws, only the 1-1 against Chelsea reflected an even expected goals scoreline. The Reds have created ten non-penalty clear scoring chances in those draws and conceded only three. The typical home Liverpool performance has been dominant, even when the result occasionally has not been the win that performance deserved.

Liverpool will be looking to continue this run at home this weekend to Tottenham. But Spurs have something to build on too. Tottenham just beat Manchester United handily, and the last time they took on Liverpool, it ended in a 4-1 victory. Spurs created about 3.3 expected goals in that victory, the largest total that the Reds have conceded all season. In fact, the only other time Liverpool conceded more than two expected goals was against Manchester City, in a match that turned on an early Sadio Mane red card.

So which trend will be broken? This depends on one key dynamic. Can Liverpool push Tottenham back? The Reds’ home dominance has been driven by a relentless press and forward motion. They have successfully moved the ball forward in open play into the opposition penalty area 222 times in home matches, the most in the league. With waves of pressure to win the ball back and attackers pushing forward, Liverpool pin the opposition back and leave them no space to counter.

But at Wembley earlier this season, it was precisely this dynamic that Spurs thwarted. Liverpool managed only five open play attacking moves into Tottenham’s penalty area. Spurs successfully played quickly around the press by involving unexpected players into the play and looking to spring Harry Kane free against the Liverpool center backs.

One might expect to see Christian Eriksen’s attacking map featuring several key long passes forward, but right back Kieran Trippier was if anything more effective. His quick forward ball to Kane broke Liverpool’s press for Spurs’ first goal.


This weekend, Liverpool must contain Spurs’ quick-hitting attack and re-establish their suffocating pressure. The Reds will have two key advantages to press to make this happen. The first is Virgil Van Dijk. The new center back will likely replace Dejan Lovren in the lineup, and it was Lovren that Spurs targeted so effectively in their passes forward to Kane. If Tottenham seek to rush the ball forward, it might be possible to thwart this movement simply with better defensive play in the back line.

The second advantage is also a matter of personnel. Liverpool tried against Spurs to play a bruising midfield of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Emre Can. These stronger but slower midfielders found themselves pushed back and unable to challenge Spurs quickly. Henderson and Milner ended up doing more defending in their own half than pushing forward to win the ball and dominate play.

It is unlikely that Jurgen Klopp will make a similar selection on Sunday. In fact, Klopp started his three big midfielders against Huddersfield in midweek. Spurs should expect to see a faster and more dynamic midfield, likely featuring one or both of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Georginio Wijnaldum. This personnel should be more suited to closing down Spurs’ quick attacks and springing their own moves off the counterpress to pin Tottenham back. Liverpool’s press has been dominant at home, and the right personnel should enable the Reds to keep this run going.

Does the Swansea Loss Show Liverpool Will Struggle to Replace Coutinho?

·Michael Caley

Clubs do not usually sell their top players in January without a very good reason. Liverpool, locked in a tight top four race and looking forward to a relatively easy Champions League knockout tie against Porto, would seem if anything to have reason not to sell. But sell they did, sending Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for an incredible 140 million. The reason for the sale, as reported, were less about any football reason that Coutinho was not needed, but rather that the Brazilian attacker had gone on strike and demanded the move. Liverpool acquiesced. The question for the Reds now is how to adjust to the loss of Coutinho and keep their excellent season moving along.

Liverpool’s last two matches show that the Coutinho question is highly contextual. On the one hand, Liverpool beat Manchester City without Coutinho. So this team is still capable of beating just about anyone in the world. But then the Reds went and lost to Swansea City. It was not a bad performance, and Liverpool had several chances to win the game, but the ball progression maps of their midfielders show that they struggled to get penetration into the penalty area for most of the match.

And it is precisely that sort of ball progression that is Coutinho’s specialty. Last season Coutinho averaged about six progressive passes or runs per 90 minutes—the statistic is defined as a pass or run that progresses the ball over 10 yards past its furthest point forward in the move, or moves the ball into the 18-yard box. The only players with better numbers were Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas and City’s David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Elite creators like Mesut Ozil and Eden Hazard fell short of Coutinho, with just about five progressive passes or runs per match. This season Coutinho has improved, leading the league in progressive passes and runs with about 7.5 per 90 minutes. De Bruyne and Silva trail him with around 7 per 90.

What Coutinho offers, then, is the sort of elite ball progression that can break down a packed, organized defense. While Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana both have put up reasonably good passing numbers, neither rates among the best of the best. Unless Liverpool make a big splash on the January market, they will most likely need to do without the peculiar skills that Countinho provides, and Jurgen Klopp will need to devise a different Plan B for breaking down packed defenses.

The Manchester City victory, however, militates against any rushed purchases or January overpayments. Given room to work in the open field by a high-pressing City side, Liverpool’s forwards ran rampant. They could break at pace into the final third or the penalty area because there was room to work. Where Liverpool may feel the loss of Coutinho is in matches like Monday’s, where an opponent sets out to stifle their attack and refuses to take the sort of attacking risks that could lead to dangerous attacks but could also disrupt their defensive shape. It may be only for a subset of the club’s matches that Coutinho’s absence is truly felt, and for those matches other options may be available.

Liverpool’s most creative attacker on Monday was new center back Virgil Van Dijk, who assisted two of the Reds’ three best scoring chances.

While Van Dijk surely cannot replicate this performance weekly, he does point to a possible solution for Liverpool short of a new purchase. In matches where the opposition packs in deep, unexpected players can join the attack. Liverpool will need more complex plans or scripted moves to bring these additional attackers into play, but for the precise matches where Coutinho is needed, one can imagine new tactical solutions building on the skills of Liverpool’s defenders. The loss of Coutinho then is a problem, but it looks like a limited and soluble one.

Alexis Sanchez move to Manchester United

·Sebastian Cardoch

Alexis Sanchez had just been confirmed as the stellar new winter signing for Manchester United. We at Twelve are curious to know how the introduction of Alexis will impact Mourinho’s side. It is certain that Alexis will bring a greater attacking threat, but what can a Manchester United fans expect to see from him?

Alexis is a dynamic player that can occupy any attacking position across the frontline. Having played on right during his time at Barcelona, he is also comfortable on the left where he often played during his time at Arsenal. Alexis can even play as a play-maker or as a false nine as he had done at times in the national level and Udinese. It is difficult then to predict where his place will be in Mourinho’s side.

We can start by comparing Alexis’ performance this season with the rest of Manchester United’s squad. Using Twelve’s system, Alexis places first in overall points per minutes played throughout the season. Not surprisingly, his biggest contribution is his ability to generate offensive opportunities with passes and dribbles (green) while a fair share of his total contributions also comes from shots and goals (blue). Considering Mourinho’s defensive philosophy, Alexis will most likely be expected to increase defensive (red) and press (yellow) contributions to match those of Rashford and Martial. This should be no problem; the Chilean has always been highlighted for his work-rate and pressing abilities.

A new Martial to the team: If we focus a more detailed view of Alexis’s offensive display so far in the season, we can see that his best attacking contributions happen just inside and outside the penalty box. Alexis has the pace to get the ball in the middle of the pitch, carry it forward and find the space to release his teammates into. He also has the agility to receive the ball inside the opposition’s box, keep possession and work a shooting opportunity. When comparing offensive actions, we can’t help but see similarities in the between Alexis and Martial.

Attacking symmetry: We might expect that Mourinho will first try to place Sanchez on the right, a position that Mata currently occupies, to mirror Matial’s movement. When in control of the ball, Mata usually cuts inside and moves into a more creative central role. This is seen by the fact that Mata’s best attacking contributions only come from outside the penalty box. Alexis will offer Manchester United a direct route to the opposition’s penalty box taking advantage of the run of Antonio Valencia from behind. This reminds us of his time at Udinese and Barcelona.

Numbers will increase: Alexis has lacked efficiency in front of goal this season, having only scored 7 goals from 46 shots compared to last season where he converted in 24 occasions from 86 shots. A role from the left has made him predictable at times by always choosing to cut inside with his right foot. If Mourinho favours the option of playing him on the right it might help Alexis be more involved in the finishing.

Increased discipline from Alexis: From the later part of 16/17 season until now, Sanchez has had the tendency to drop deep in search of involvement in the play. Sometimes forced by discouraging results at Arsenal, Sanchez seeks to fill the void that allows his team to move the ball up the pitch. This has been the cause of a lot of unforced errors and lost possessions (marked by “x” in the diagram below). Often lost possession by Alexis has left Arsenal’s defence badly shaped and vulnerable as the team transitions into attack.

Manchester United’s next test in the Premier League will be against Tottenham. We expect Alexis to make an appearance from the start and show his offensive versatility, that no doubt will fit into Mourinho’s side.

Sebastian Cardoch is a football data analyst at Twelve.

Why Pep can put his trust in Zinchenko

·David Sumpter

A fresh face in the Manchester City starting XI for last weekend’s win over Newcastle United was that of 21-year- old Ukrainian, and product of Shakhtar Donetsk’s academy, Oleksandr Zinchenko. Bought in the summer 2016 from FC Ufa in the Russian Premier League, Zinchenko’s main position was as an attacking midfielder who could play anywhere across the frontline. His talent was already established: at the age of 19 years and 214 days he broke a 20-year- old record held by Andriy Shevchenko as he became Ukraine’s youngest goalscorer for the national team.

In the game against Newcastle, he was given his first league start by Guardiola in a relatively new role for him as the team’s left-back, providing cover for the injured Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph. Zinchenko was not fazed, looking at home on the left-hand side of the pitch at the Etihad Stadium. He had more touches than any other player on the field and completed 94% of his passes.

He was caught out on a couple of occasions defensively in the match, and he could be considered to blame for the goal conceded in the 67 th minute. A diagonal pass played in behind him caught him flat-footed and the wrong side of Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy who had a clear run towards a one on one against Ederson. Murphy put it away to make it 2-1.

Full-backs are a vital part of City’s exciting play and style, and there Zinchenko definitely did not disappoint. It was the Ukrainian international’s attacking ability going forward that really caught the eye and left little doubt regarding his talent. Below we show all of his passes, shading them according to their importance to City’s attack.

He was arguably City’s best player in the first half, with a memorable long pass around the 20-minute mark that just about found Sane in the box. Zinchenko was generally pushing high up the pitch, overlapping constantly providing treacherous cut-backs and crosses. Six crosses were put into the box by him from the left, and even though none found a City head they were dangerous – driven in with pace and beautiful shape. Another notable contribution came in the second half as his one- touch pass to De Bruyne in the 72 nd minute opened-up Newcastle’s defence and allowed the Belgian to square the ball to Sterling who was unlucky to hit the woodwork.

It was Zinchenko who ultimately came out on top in Twelve’s Attack Performance Rankings. We look forward to seeing more of him in the future, as he matures and develops.

David Sumpter is the author of Soccermatics.
Emri Dolev is a data scientist at twelve.football

Twelve’s rating system

·David Sumpter

This post describes our work at Twelve to develop visualisations of football matches. Our idea is to show, live during matches, how the players are performing. We want to help fans both to see the contributions of individual players and give a tactical view of the game using the same data relied on by managers and coaches.

In this article I’m going to showcase our current visualisations and describe the idea behind the methodology for assigning points to actions.

We have developed a method for evaluating player performance based on everything they do on the ball during the match. Below is our rankings for Manchester City players in their game against Tottenham Hotspur.

These rankings are broken in to four categories attack (green), defence (red), off-the-ball (yellow) and shots & goals (blue).

According to our model Raheem Sterling was man of the match. This is because he scored two goals, which are worth 1000 points each.

Sterling also missed a number of chances before scoring. Some fans might think that these misses should give him negative points. But in Twelve’s system we give Sterling positive points for these misses. This is because Sterling got in to a good position to take the shot, and in the long term there is statistical evidence that creating chances is an important sign of a quality player.

The points for these shots are awarded on the basis of a model called expected goals. We measure the position of the shot and look at historical data about about the probability that shots from these position are typically goals and we assign this as the number of points for a shot. Sterlings best chance would normally be a goal in 42.7% of cases, so we give him 427 points.

So thats goals. Lets move to attack. Kevin De Bruyne is the best City player. Here are his attacking contributions.

His top attacking contributions were given 160 points, because they created a clear cut chance for a teammate. If you click on the passes, you’ll see that two of them got slightly lower scores. These passes were also in to dangerous areas, but didn’t directly result in a chance. In this case, the points are assigned in a way that is similar to expected goals. If a pass takes the ball from a part of the pitch that a team is less likely to score a goal from (e.g. out near the touchline) to a place they are likely to score a goal from (e.g. in the box) then it will get a lot of points.

If you click on ‘All’ in the attack dashboard, you’ll see every pass De Bruyne made that improved the probability of City scoring. Each of these passes got a lower number of points, because although it improved his team’s attacking position the contribution was relatively small. Clicking on these should give you an idea of how much different passes increase danger for the opposition.

We’ll now turn to defence. Here we’ll look at Tottenham Hotspur. Their defence had a lot to do and Kieran Trippier, in particular, didn’t have a good game.

In the dashboard above you can see the mistakes he made (crosses) and the successful defensive actions (stop signs). Trippier made several big mistakes, being dribbled past in and around the box. Add these up and he got a total of -48 points for the match. Again, you can see by clicking on the points that mistakes in front of goal are assigned larger numbers of points than those further away.

One thing we are still working on is a model of off-the-ball actions. The data we use only measures what happens on the ball, but we keep track of where players are and identify the areas of the pitch they typically play in. We then assign points to players when the opposition lose the ball in these areas. We confine off-the-ball points to areas away from goal, so it gives a rough measure of press. It is typically defensive midfielders who are given most credit for pressing. Here is Fernandinho.

Again, if the opposition lose the ball in a more offensive position, then the nearby players are awarded more points.

As the Twelve project develops we’ll share more details. Ultimately, the techniques developed here will become the basis for match analysis websites, a fantasy football game and tools for football analytics. This post should give you a feeling for where we are now and where we are going.

Do Manchester United’s Derby Tactics Offer a Path To Slowing Down the City Juggernaut?

·Michael Caley

Manchester City look like runaway title winners. They won the Manchester Derby over their likeliest title rival. That victory extended their first division record win streak. Then by defeating Swansea City 4-0, Pep Guardiola’s side expanded their goal difference to plus-41, well over two goals per match better than their league opponents. That pace would break the Premier League goal difference record by over 20 goals.

At this point, the question is not whether Manchester City will fall back into a title race but whether they’ll fall back to earth at all. This weekend it will be Tottenham Hotspur looking to test City. While the record numbers listed above suggest Spurs will be severe underdogs, the last two matches offered a few hints of the best ways to approach City. In particular, Manchester United managed to slow down City’s usually overwhelming forward progress in attack, and were done in instead by a pair of set play goals.

Against United, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne turned their weakest combined ball progression numbers of the season. Neither prised open the United defense as easily as both regularly have against other opponents.


Their combined per 90 ball progression rating of 9.5 marked the only time this season the two have combined for under a 15 rating. This season De Bruyne and Silva have both averaged over 6.5 progressive passes and runs per 90, defined as passes or runs which progress the ball 10-15 yards beyond its further point of progress in the move in the attacking half. Among players with over 1000 minutes played, the City midfield pair are first and second in the league. But against United, Silva and De Bruyne managed to complete only six such passes, half their normal combined rate.

Although United did not come away with the points, or the better chances, Jose Mourinho successfully stymied the twin engines of City’s attack. Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and Jesse Lingard clogged the center and pressured Silva and De Bruyne, limiting the amount of open play penetration the City could achieve. The combination of defensive pressure on the ball and numbers behind it is not easy to achieve, but it was effective here.

For Tottenham this suggests one possible way forward. Toby Alderweireld’s Injury and Davinson Sanchez’s suspension have forced Spurs to play a back four after earlier success in a back three. They will need to use their midfield to prevent De Bruyne and Silva from picking passes into the spaces between the four deepest defenders. Tottenham this season have shown occasional willingness to concede space, drop midfielders into a deeper block and play on the counter—primarily in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund. Such an approach against City would be to invite disaster, but it is possible Spurs could manage to find the balance that United did. It would depend on the pressing of Mousa Dembele and likely require Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli to be deployed in more defensive roles, so the team could pressure Silva and De Bruyne without leaving too much space behind for them to pass into.

Of course, when Manchester City found midfield inhospitable during the Derby, they still created a pair of goals from set pieces. The problem with facing a great team is they might beat you anyway even if you win a few tactical battles.

Still, the success of United at slowing down City’s open play attack by stifling De Bruyne and Silva suggests this can be accomplished. Both have already started two matches this week and De Bruyne’s workload—only one missed start between the Premier and Champions Leagues—is approaching the inhumane. If Tottenham are to have a chance in this match, it most likely begins with a defensive, low-block structure and the application of tactics reminiscent of Jose Mourinho.

Blog about your club using Twelve

·David Sumpter

We are now trialling Twelve’s player evaluation system and we would like to give access to fans who would like to blog about their own Premier League team. This access will allow you to log in to our analysis tool and export widgets displaying shots, passes and defensive actions of all of your favourite players.

To get an idea of the outputs you can create take a look at the widgets below. Here is Mesut Özil’s important passes against Manchester United.

And here are De Gea’s saves in the same match.

We also provide analysis of multiple matches. Here are Mohammed Salah’s shots over Liverpool’s previous six matches.

The tools can also be used live during matches to analyse how the game is progressing.

Our model of shots is based on expected Goals, while our model of passing and defence is based on a value we assign to each point on the pitch based on how dangerous it is for the opposition. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be writing more about how the algorithm works. What we’d like just now is to identify amateur bloggers who’d like to try it out and give us feedback.

If you are interested, send an email to david at twelve.football with links to at least three articles you have previously written about your club. Youtubers are also welcome to contact us. But you must be doing it for love of the game and not for commercial reasons.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Manchester Derby Preview

·Michael Caley

For there to be a title race in the Premier League this year, Manchester United will probably need a win in this weekend’s Manchester Derby. United sit already eight points behind Manchester City and are huge underdogs for the title. That underdog status is reinforced by a quick look at the underlying numbers. City have the league’s best expected goals difference at plus-27, while United’s plus-8 reflects a season in which results have outstripped the underlying play. It appears several things must go right if the Red Devils if they are to get the win.

1) More Spectacular Goalkeeping

In United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal at the weekend, it was goalkeeper David De Gea and his incredible 14 saves that were most responsible for preserving the result. In general, this has been the story of United’s season. Jose Mourinho sides are expected to exert defensive control, and United’s nine goals conceded suggest he has the defense clicking, but the indicators do not all line up. The Red Devils’ 182 shots conceded are by a good margin the most of the any of the big six teams and more than twice as many as Man City. The performance rankings from the Arsenal match tell a familiar story—defenders Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, and Marcos Rojo produced almost no defensive value, and it was the work of De Gea that prevented a flurry of Arsenal goals.

2) New Sources of Ball Progression

Paul Pogba has been United’s best progressive passer from midfield on the season. His red card against Arsenal means United will need to find another solution. Nemanja Matic and Marouane Fellaini can add defensive strength to midfield, and Fellaini is dangerous in the penalty area, but over the season on a per-minute basis, Pogba has produced more attacking value than Matic and Fellaini combined.

While United has no like-for-like replacement for their record signing, the tactical battle could provide Mourinho with a solution. Manchester City are unlikely to concede space or possession, meaning that the key ball progression United will be looking for should come on the counter rather than from buildup. It may be possible against City to replace Pogba’s ball progression without adding a passing midfielder. Both Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial have provided exceptional value with their passing in recent weeks, and with City streaming numbers forward, the options should exist for a quick out ball to an attacker like Lingard or Martial.


3) Maybe Manchester City Get Tired

There is no doubt that Pep Guardiola will have his side pushing forward in attack. In the last few matches, however, this attack has looked somewhat more manageable than usual. It took a last-minute winner from Raheem Sterling to sink Southampton, and City were held to just 0.1 expected goals in the first half against West Ham. Guardiola has done little to rotate his key attackers this season, with Kevin De Bruyne starting all but one match between Premier League and Champions League, and David Silva missing the XI only four times. So far this lack of rotation has not cost City any important points. United, counting on more exceptional goalkeeping and a plan b attacking strategy, will certainly need some good fortune. If City come out of the gate looking tired from these early season exertions, it would give United the opportunity they need.

Aaron Ramsey Appreciation Society, Called to Order

·Michael Caley

In many ways, Arsenal’s 2017-18 season seems to be following the pattern the Gunners set last year. They fell short of 4th place by one point, and through 15 matches this year they are in the same position, a single point off Liverpool once again. But the underlying numbers suggest a different story. Arsenal’s plus-20 expected goals difference last season was clearly the weakest in the Premier League. This season Arsenal has already produced three-quarters of their xGD from a full season last year—their expected goals difference of plus-15 is behind only Manchester City’s stratospheric plus-27.

This Arsenal team, then, has maintained its level in the table while significantly improving its underlying statistics. What appears to be a team holding steady may really be a club striding forward.

The increasingly effective Arsenal back three system has been the secret to the club’s steady improvement. The linchpin of the system is Aaron Ramsey. While recent matches have seen big performances from forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez, it is Ramsey’s all-around midfield play that has enabled Arsenal to consolidate and move forward from last season. Arsenal have played nearly the whole season with three center backs. This has helped the Gunners’ defense in obvious ways, as a midfield that lacks a clear ball-winner can be covered by the extra man at the back. But to make the attack work after dropping numbers up front requires a player who can offer shot production from an unusual position. For Arsenal, that player in Ramsey.

The Welsh midfielder’s 36 shot attempts and 4.8 expected goals are the most of any central midfielder in the league, and his 3.5 expected assists trail only David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Cesc Fabregas. With his late runs into the box, Ramsey can destabilize a defense and create quality scoring chances for himself or his teammates, as he did with his one-touch assist to Lacazette for Arsenal’s goal against Manchester United last week.

What makes Ramsey’s shot production stand out, of course, is that he lines up in central midfield. And this is not a nominal position. Over the last four matches, which have produced three victories and one hard-luck defeat, Ramsey has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent contributors across every dimension. His Twelve Football dashboard shows nearly 5000 pts produced up and down the pitch. Ramsey has contributed tackles in the defensive zone, pressing in midfield, progressive passing around the box and those quality shot attempts as well.

Arsenal’s new back three system both depends on Ramsey and seems to get the best out of him. The three-man attack would be too easy to mark if they did not have a midfielder making runs into the box to unsettle the defenders and create space for Lacazette, Sanchez and Ozil. With those three forwards leading the press, he has time to track back into position or join them in the high press, and with three center backs behind, there is coverage if Ramsey is caught up field.

It is hard to see Arsenal’s system working without the peculiar talents of Aaron Ramsey. His manager has built a system which maximizes his talent and enables a little extra defensive cover for the whole team. So long as Ramsey stays healthy, it is likely this Arsenal team can maintain its early season success and make another run at the top four.

Eriksen’s dip in form?

·Mike Goodman

Tottenham Hotspur have now dropped points in three straight games. While losing to Arsenal at the Emirates might be understandable, subsequently dropping points to both West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City is less so. Their recent downturn in results means they’re now in seventh place, a point behind shocking Burnley and four behind fourth place Arsenal. With so many teams vying for the four Champions League spots if Spurs don’t turn their results around soon, they will find themselves heading into the second half of the season on the outside looking in, facing the daunting task of not only having to recover from a points deficit, but having to leapfrog a number of teams to do it.

The good news is that while their results have been poor, Spurs recent performances have not been as bad as their results. In both their loss to Leicester and their draw against West Brom Spurs conceded early (twice against Leicester) and had to chase the game. And while they only took a point combined they still outshot West Brom 25-5 (and 9-4 from inside the penalty area) and Leicester 18-7 (13-4 from inside the box). So, while they didn’t get the results from those two matches, it’s reasonable to expect that on another day they might have.

That’s not to say everything is perfect and Spurs land. While their form might not be quite as bad as recent results suggest, there are still some worrying signs. Christian Eriksen in particular appears to have hit a rough patch and Spurs are having a hard time compensating. Spurs strong start to the season was driven in no small part by Eriksen’s ever present influence in possession. Over the last four games (including a lackluster 1-0 win against Crystal Palace) Eriksen’s influence seems to have dropped. Over the first ten games of the season Eriksen was completing 50 our of 65 passes per 90 minutes, for a 77% completion rate. Over the last four games those numbers have dropped to 46 out of 62 passes a game for 73%. His chances created per 90 minutes has also dropped, falling slightly from 2.35 to 2.18 per game.

It can be particularly hard to pick up on slight changes in the performance of a subtle player like Eriksen. While he certainly contributes goals and assists, a large part of what he does is more understated. Things like circulating the ball in attack, or pressuring passes to slow down transitions in defense are little things that eventually ad up, but can be hard to evaluate in the moment. To do this I used Twelve’s player ranking model, which assigns value to a number of different actions and weighs them according to importance as a way to evaluate performance.

Here is Eriksen’s passes over the last four games, against Leicester, West Brom, Arsenal, and Crystal Palace. The darker the circle, the more important the pass. Passes with arrows were particularly dangerous for the opposition.

(Note that these Twelve widgets are interactive but are still work in progress and are not optimised for size and interaction on all devices yet. But we included them so you can see where Twelve are going…)

And here is his performance ranking against the previous four opponents, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bournemouth and Huddersfield.

The difference here is minor, 2635 points compared to 2701. Possibly the earlier matches were against a tougher oppositions, allowing Eriksen less time on the ball, but in any case, the difference is small.

Heading into the crowded December schedule Spurs are faced with a difficult dynamic. While their performances have been better than their recent set of results, there are still things to be concerned about. Although Christian Eriksen is doing pretty much the same thing as he has done, the outcome isn’t as impressive. This is probably something that will correct itself without intervention, but it is also possible that Eriksen’s heavy minute load is catching up with him, or perhaps a tactical shift is necessary in order to get him more involved. The challenge for manager Mauricio Pochettino is figuring out how best to get the best out of Eriksen while also recognizing that overall Spurs are probably still in fine shape. Do the wrong thing, like resting Erkisen if it isn’t fatigue that’s causing the problem, and he risks turning a minor Spurs blip in form into a major problem. Make the right choice and Spurs will likely go charging up the table again.

This article was written for Nordic Bet blog.