Tottenham player ratings v Bournemouth: Eriksen spares Spurs

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LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 14: Lewis Cook of AFC Bournemouth is blocked by Jan Vertonghen of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /

Jan Vertonghen-7

Full credit to Vertonghen for doing a quality job of filling in at left back for Ben Davies. It isn’t his favourite position, but he plays it well in a pinch for Spurs.

In particular, he deserves plaudits for getting forward so often for his club’s attack. It would have been easy for him to sit back and play things safe. However, that would’ve really restricted Tottenham’s ability to break down Bournemouth’s stubborn defence.

Vertonghen may not have created many scoring chances, but he kept Howe’s troops honest. That gave his teammates a lot of space.

Kieran Trippier-6.5

This was a little better than Trippier’s average performance, but it wasn’t a master class by any stretch of the imagination. As usual, he was excellent on the ball, but his lack of foot speed prevented him from really troubling the opposition.

It must be said that his defending was better in this match than it has been for most of the season. He put in some key challenges that helped Tottenham preserve a clean sheet. Even so, it would be a major surprise to see him start at Real Madrid. That honour seems destined to go to Serge Aurier.

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