Tottenham Hotspur may need to improve their performance levels if they want to come away with all three points in the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.
The Lilywhites are fifth in the Premier League table, after 11 matches, but the underlying numbers behind their performances suggest that Thomas Frank’s team are heading in the wrong direction.
Shots on target
38
14th
Non-penalty xG
11.0
15th
xG
11.0
15th
xGA
15.2
14th
xGD
-4.2
17th
xGD per 90
-0.38
17th
As you can see in the table above, Spurs rank just above the relegation zone in a host of key performance-based metrics, but they have been able to grind out results in spite of their struggles.
Up against the league leaders this weekend, Tottenham may not be able to get away with giving up as many high-quality chances whilst failing to create many of their own opportunities.
If performances do not improve and results fall in line with the current data, questions may be asked of Frank, but also of the squad of players that has been assembled by the Europa League champions.
Some questions may be asked about how well the club have spent their money on both player transfer fees and player wages, as they may not be getting value for money.
Ranking Tottenham's top ten earners
Tottenham, as you would expect of a club that is regularly in European competitions and competing at the top end of the Premier League table, reportedly have a lot of high earners in the squad.
Per Capology, Spurs have nine players who earn between £100k and £195k-per-week in North London, and summer signing Xavi Simons is at the top of the pile alongside Cristian Romero.
=1
Xavi Simons
£195,000
=1
Cristian Romero
£195,000
3
James Maddison
£170,000
=4
Mohammed Kudus
£150,000
=4
Randal Kolo Muani
£150,000
6
Dominic Solanke
£140,000
7
Joao Palhinha
£135,000
8
Dejan Kulusevski
£110,000
9
Brennan Johnson
£100,000
=10
Richarlison
£90,000
=10
Micky van de Ven
£90,000
Excluding Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan, it is hard to do anything other than rank Xavi Simons at the bottom of the club’s top earners, as he has no goals and two assists in 13 appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore, as an attacking midfielder.
Maddison has a claim to rank first on this list after an eye-catching haul of 12 goals and ten assists in all competitions last term, per Sofascore, but he is currently set to miss the majority of this season with an ACL injury.
Brennan Johnson should go in second, purely because of his winning goal in the Europa League, and Cristian Romero should rank third as a first-choice centre-back and current club captain, showing value for money on and off the pitch.
Kudus, with one goal and four assists in ten Premier League games for Spurs, has been a mainstay since his summer move from West Ham United and should rank fifth, whilst Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison have been long-serving members of the squad, without being genuine stars, so could slot in sixth and seventh.
Dominic Solanke, who joined in the summer of 2024, underperformed his xG of 10.97 with a return of nine goals in the Premier League last season, per Sofascore, which is why he should be eighth, behind Simons, whilst Kolo Muani and Palhinha are hard to rank as it is unclear how much of their wages they are paying as part of the loan deals.
The last remaining name on the list is central defender Micky van de Ven, who we rank in fourth place, as Lilywhites expert John Wenham has urged sporting director Fabio Paratici to improve his wages.
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He told TottenhamNews: “Spurs should reward his rapid progress into one of the best defenders in the Premier League with a new deal and could even double his current salary.”
How Micky van de Ven has turned his Spurs career around
Rewind to April 2024 during his first season with the Lilywhites, after a move from Wolfsburg in 2023, and the Dutchman found himself on the receiving end of some harsh criticism for mistakes in a game against Newcastle United.
Speaking on Match of the Day, former Arsenal and England centre-back Martin Keown called his defending “embarrassing” in a 4-0 win for the Magpies at St. James’ Park, as Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon took advantage of his slips.
Roughly 18 months on from that criticism he faced, Van de Ven is now in a position where there has been a call for the club to double his wages because of how impressive his performances have been.
It is understandable for Wenham to make the claim when you consider that Romero, on £195k-per-week, reportedly earns more than twice as much as the Netherlands international does, on £90k-per-week.
Van de Ven and Romero are Tottenham’s first-choice centre-back pairing in the Premier League this season and their respective statistics do not suggest that the Argentine defender is more than twice as valuable to the team.
Appearances
11
9
Goals
3
0
Dribbled past per game
0.2x
0.3x
Clearances per game
3.4
3.0
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.3
3.8
Ground duel success rate
62%
68%
Fouls committed per game
0.5
1.2
As you can see in the table above, both players excel in different areas of the game, particularly defensively, but they both have their strengths, and Van de Ven more than holds his own.
The left-footed star is the club’s top goalscorer in all competitions this season, with six goals, and may have already locked in the Goal of the Season award with his effort against Copenhagen.
At the age of 24, Van de Ven also has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve as a player, which is why it would be worth tying him down to an extended contract on better terms.
Overall, the Dutch defender has turned his Spurs career around by becoming a reliable figure at the heart of the defence for Frank this season, and appears to warrant a wage hike if Paratici can convince him to pen a new contract in North London.
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