Comparing Christian Eriksen’s 2021-22 stats to Tottenham’s midfielders

Christian Eriksen is one of Tottenham’s most popular players of the Premier League era – and according to reports we could yet see the playmaker turn out for them again.

Having made a wonderful comeback from the cardiac arrest that shocked the world of football during Euro 2020 last summer, Eriksen looked great as ever during his short spell at Brentford.

The 30-year-old Denmark international signed a short-term deal with Thomas Frank’s Bees back in January and went on to play a pivotal role in their superb form in the latter half of the 2021-22 campaign.

Brentford have reportedly offered Eriksen a long-term contract and are waiting on his answer, but there are suggestions that he wants to play Champions League football – and as a free agent, he has a choice of clubs that can offer that.

Having pipped their north London rivals to top four, Spurs are one potential destination – and it would make plenty of sense given his good relationship with head coach Antonio Conte.

Eriksen took time to get to grips with Conte’s style and was often left on the bench, but he gradually became an important player at Inter Milan, featuring deeper in midfield during their 2020-21 Serie A title win.

It’s a role he’s since replicated at Brentford, playing in a midfield three under his Danish compatriot Frank, in contrast to the more advanced position he used to take up in Mauricio Pochettino’s favoured 4-2-3-1 at Tottenham.

“At Inter we played with a 3-5-2 and at the time Christian was used to playing at Tottenham behind a striker in a 4-2-3-1,” Conte told football.london back in April. “So I think he needed a bit of time to understand my idea of football, but when he did this, he became a really important player for us.

“I see at Brentford they are playing sometimes 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. And in 3-5-2, he is doing the same things he did with Inter by being their playmaker, but when you have a player with great availability to improve themselves and put themselves at the service of the team, it’s easier for a manager.

“Christian is one of these types of player. I don’t remember once that he complained when he was on the bench. A top player, a top person in every moment.”

Should Eriksen arrive at Spurs this summer, he’d give Conte the option of switching from a 3-4-2-1 and more towards a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 with the Dane in a three-man midfield.

Given this, we’ve decided to compare Eriksen to the players that he’d likely be competing for a spot in Conte’s first-choice XI next season – Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp.

However, given his experience of playing in a more advanced attacking midfield role with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, we’ve also compared his stats to Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura.

Bergwijn and Moura are completely different types of footballers, but they played a rotational squad role under Conte last term and could yet be challenged in terms of a go-to option for extra creative and attacking impetus from the bench – which was often Eriksen’s role under Conte at Inter.

We haven’t included Kane, Son or Dejan Kulusevski here, who are more out-and-out forwards in Conte’s system, though it’s not totally out of the question that Eriksen could be used in one of the two slots behind Kane in a 3-4-2-1.

All stats are from the Premier League during the 2021-22 season and come via WhoScored.

Goals
Steven Bergwijn – 3
Lucas Moura – 2
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 2
Christian Eriksen – 1
Rodrigo Bentancur – 0
Harry Winks – 0
Oliver Skipp – 0

Assists
Lucas Moura – 6
Christian Eriksen – 4
Rodrigo Bentancur – 4
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 2
Harry Winks – 1
Steven Bergwijn – 1
Oliver Skipp – 0

Minutes per goal or assist
Steven Bergwijn – 137.75
Christian Eriksen – 187.6
Lucas Moura – 221.75
Rodrigo Bentancur – 341.75
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 799.75
Harry Winks – 908
Oliver Skipp – N/A

Christian Eriksen: "Of course I am still a Spurs fan!" 🤍💙 pic.twitter.com/lmxEJYgrIn

— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) April 23, 2022

Chances created per 90 minutes
Christian Eriksen – 2.9
Lucas Moura – 1.7
Steven Bergwijn – 1.3
Harry Winks – 1.1
Rodrigo Bentancur – 1.0
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 0.7
Oliver Skipp – 0.5

Successful dribbles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Lucas Moura – 2.8 (59%)
Steven Bergwijn – 1.6 (48%)
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 1.2 (70%)
Rodrigo Bentancur – 0.9 (69%)
Christian Eriksen – 0.8 (53%)
Harry Winks – 0.8 (53%)
Oliver Skipp – 0.3 (75%)

Passes Completed per 90 (Passing accuracy)
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 71.2 (89.7%)
Rodrigo Bentancur – 66.3 (90%)
Harry Winks – 64.7 (88.2%)
Oliver Skipp – 56.4 (90.1%)
Christian Eriksen – 52.2 (80.9%)
Lucas Moura – 36.8 (76.7%)
Steven Bergwijn – 27 (84.2%)

Successful tackles per 90 minutes (success rate)
Rodrigo Bentancur – 2.4 (70%)
Oliver Skipp – 2.2 (66%)
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 2.2 (62%)
Harry Winks – 1.5 (53%)
Lucas Moura – 1.3 (50%)
Christian Eriksen – 1.2 (57%)
Steven Bergwijn – 0.5 (25%)

Interceptions per 90 minutes
Harry Winks – 1.6
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 1.4
Rodrigo Bentancur – 1.3
Lucas Moura – 0.9
Christian Eriksen – 0.9
Oliver Skipp – 0.8
Steven Bergwijn – 0.2