Fit and firing: Mousa Dembele return could be crucial for Spurs

Moussa Dembele is likely to return to the Tottenham Hotspur line-up when they travel to Liverpool to take on Everton this weekend. The midfielder has started Spurs’ last two fixtures on the substitute’s bench, but came on for 45 minutes against Hull City last weekend and should start alongside Paulinhoin the Spurs midfield ahead of Sandro.

Prior to his spell on the side-line Dembele had posted some impressive stats, and his return should provide a boost to a goal shy Spurs side.

Dembele has achieved the highest Performance Score of any Tottenham player this season -with a score of 336 – and scores considerably higher than Sandro’s minus six score. The Belgian’s ability in possession has contributed 121 points to this total – a score that should be of little surprise given that his pass accuracy of 91% is the highest of any midfielder at the club.

Whilst Sandro is a good player, Dembele is a class above his colleague. His athleticism and abilities to both attack and defend are key to the side’s 4-2-3-1 formation, and his consistency means he should be able to provide more creativity than his Brazilian teammate did.

Dembele Duels Won 2013/14

As is often typical of the modern midfielder, Dembele is capable at both ends of the pitch. As his duel statistics show, he has a 90% tackle success rate and has successfully completed 26 take-ons. He provides Spurs with the ability to win the ball back for his side and to contribute a spark of quality that can create a chance. Such attributes are likely to be important against an Everton central midfield that combines the attacking threat of Ross Barkley with the defensive shield of Gareth Barry andJames McCarthy.

If Sandro were to play, then he may successfully win the ball back, but would provide less attacking threat. His relative inability to create chances or take on an opponent would slow any Spurs attacks down, and allow Barry and McArthur to regain their positions in front of the Everton back four.

The combination of Dembele’s dribbling ability and passing accuracy means that he has created 13 chances for Tottenham this season. In his five games Sandro has created none.

Dembele Chances Created 2013/14

Dembele’s contribution of chances from the middle of the pitch should provide a boost, but he will be reliant upon his teammates to convert. Spurs have created by far and away the most chances in the Premier League, but have only converted 13% of them. As a point of reference, their opponents this weekend have created 27 fewer chances but scored five more goals.

Chances Created by Team 2013/14

Whilst Tottenham’s chance creation to conversion ratio is laughable, Dembele is crucial to it. The graph below shows their chance creation by game, and it is no coincidence that the two games in which they have created the fewest have been the two games that Dembele has not started in.

Tottenham Chances Created by Match

Tottenham need to start taking their chances if they are to achieve this season, but if they are to continue with their poor conversion rate then the ability of Dembele to create chances could prove even more important. Only Roberto Soldado has created more chances for Spurs than Dembele this season, and Dembele’s return could be key for Everton this weekend.