In the last matchday before the international break, the Premier League produced one of the matches of this season as Spurs defeated bottom-of-the-table Leicester City. The game was evenly balanced at halftime at 2-2; however, Spurs stepped it up in the second half.
Leicester’s poor defending and the astute finishing of Heung-min Son, resulted in the home side scoring 4 goals in the second half to make the scoreline 6-2 by the full-time whistle.
Also read: The Ultimate xG Resource – What Is xG? Understanding xG, Misconceptions, Variance & Use Of xG
In the chart below, we have the analytics data from the game.
As we can see, both sides had the exact same xG (1.7), but due to the clinical finishing of Son and Bentancur, Spurs massively overperformed on their expected goals. Leicester had higher possession of 56% compared to Tottenham’s 44%. However, that’s not a surprise, given Conte’s strategy and the way he wants his teams to play offensively.
Leicester were positive going forward, creating 28 shot-creating actions, while Spurs were also not far behind with 26. In terms of goal-creating actions, Conte’s side recorded 11 GCA compared to Leicester’s 3.
Rodgers’s side also had a higher pass completion rate (87.3%) than Tottenham’s (82.2%). Over the course of the game, Leicester also recorded 31 progressive passes, 2 more than Tottenham’s 29.
Overall, Leicester were equally good on the ball but not ruthless enough to get the goals from the openings they created. However, the main issue was their abject defending, which saw them conceding 6 in one game.
Here we have Rodrigo Bentancur’s defensive and offensive map.
Bentacur was one of the best players on the pitch for Spurs. The former Juventus midfielder put in a complete performance against Leicester. He scored the second half’s first goal, putting Spurs 3-2 up in the process, and assisted one of Son’s goals as well.
A hard-working performance as he completed an imposing 11 ball recoveries against the Foxes. The offensive map consists of the touches he took in the game. The cross sign represents failed passes or a bad touch, while the circles are passes, carries, and assists.
The Uruguayan was a crucial player for Spurs due to his high work rate and intelligence in both attack and defence. He recorded an impressive 4 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 5 blocks, the highest for all three stats in the game against Leicester City, who were looking dangerous in possession.
Bentancur was involved in 5 shot-creating actions (joint most on his side) and 3 goal-creating actions (more than anyone else for Tottenham). The 25-year-old also registered 5 progressive passes, 3 progressive carries, and 2 key passes.
Harry Kane was another pivotal player for Spurs as he scored once again against his favourite opponent and assisted Son’s second goal. The England captain completed 3 key passes and was involved in 3 shot-creating actions and 1 goal-creating action. Kane’s xG was 0.4 while xA was 0.1, which shows the level of ruthlessness of Tottenham against Leicester City.
Kane was also a key part of their build-up play as he recorded 4 progressive passes and 4 progressive carries. As can be seen in the map, Kane’s involvement is significant all over the pitch, with touches spread over both wings. He recorded only 3 touches in the box, with one of them a headed finish from a pin-point cross from Kulusevski.
Spurs were the deserved winners, however, it was Son who grabbed all the headlines with his decisive 13-minute hat-trick.
The Tottenham machine marches on under Antonio Conte; the London club are unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season and sit in 3rd place in the PL table on 17 points, level with Man City.
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