Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur endured a turgid evening against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, losing to the Bundesliga side 1-0, gifting them an away goal via a penalty. Should they win the weekend’s encounter Spurs will leapfrog their opponents Chelsea and head into the top four. Nevertheless, to ensure their European woes do not create a Premier League hangover, the Portuguese boss must drop his compatriot, Gedson Fernandes, ahead of Saturday’s tie against the Blues.
Fernandes got his second start since joining Spurs in January against Leipzig but failed to impress on the right of midfield, recording the second-lowest match rating of any Tottenham player, 6.18. The 21-year-old cannot risk curtailing Mourinho’s side’s season in the crucial fixture which could define Tottenham’s season and instead his manager must select Erik Lamela, who appeared as a substitute. In the Premier League so far this season the Argentine has proven himself to be more reliable defensively, as per WhoScored, Lamela averages 1.1 tackles per match and 0.3 interceptions, while the 21-year-old is yet to record either.
Further reason Mourinho must include Lamela is that, via WhoScored, the 27-year-old has completed 23.4 passes in all competitions this season with an 85.1 per cent accuracy, over double Fernandes’ 10.6 passes with a 79.1 per cent accuracy. The Argentine has proven himself to be more assured in possession and will not allow Chelsea to recover the ball as cheaply as the Portuguese midfielder may do if included in the starting eleven.
The most telling evidence that Fernandes is not fit to start when Mourinho lines up against his former club is that the 21-year-old has not scored or assisted single goal in all competitions this season. Meanwhile, as per WhoScoreed, Lamela has found the back of the net on four occasions across all competitions along with providing three assists for teammates. His vastly superior attacking output is courtesy of having made just four more appearances than the former Benfica midfielder, which epitomises the significant impact Lamela has had when available for Spurs this term.
