Tottenham player ratings at Palace: Sanchez and Dier dominate

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LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 25: Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur and Aaron Wan-Bissaka of Crystal Palace in action during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on February 25, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /

Christian Eriksen-5

If this is how Eriksen is going to play when he gets a match off, then Pochettino will make sure he starts every fixture moving forward. He was miles off the pace in a match that he should have dominated.

His first half effort was largely a horror show. He sprayed balls all over the pitch like normal, but it was unclear which club he was playing for at times. Chalk it up as a bad day for Tottenham’s Danish maestro. His form will need to improve massively next time out.

Erik Lamela-6

Many fans (myself included) were surprised to see Lamela’s name in the starting XI. Pochettino’s decision to go with his countryman over Lucas Moura and Heung-Min Son certainly defied conventional wisdom.

Lamela didn’t do quite enough to back his manager’s call. He was his usual active self on the pitch, but he couldn’t connect the dots on the offensive end of the pitch. He wasn’t the disaster Tottenham fans on social media seemed to think, but it wasn’t his best effort either.

Dele Alli-6.5

Dele wins the glorious prize of being Tottenham’s most productive attacking midfielder on the afternoon. Suffice it to say that wasn’t a massive accomplishment.

He does deserve credit for his work rate on both ends of the pitch though. Dele also was careful to preserve possession against the physical Palace midfield. His performance gets downgraded for failing to trouble the Palace goal, but it was a reasonable shift from the English international.

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