Spurs may have finally found their Moussa Dembele replacement – Opinion

Much has been made of Rodrigo Bentancur’s recent dazzling displays but what has also caught many fans eyes is the Uruguayan similarities to past Spurs midfielders – namely Moussa Dembele.

Spurs fans have recently taken to Twitter to highlight the comparisons between the two players

When Moussa Dembele left @SpursOfficial I always thought it would be impossible to find a replacement for him.

Then Bentancur arrived…..what a player he is 🇺🇾#COYS #spurs #Bentancur pic.twitter.com/PYrzZDp22s

— Lee Mayes (@Mezzy14) November 14, 2022

So, I thought it would be worth diving into the stats to see how the two compare – stats provided by FB Ref.

When Spurs fans look back on Dembele’s time in North London, he will most likely be best known for his ability to beat the press and his man. In Dembele’s last full season as a Spurs player (2017-18) he had a dribble success rate of 84% – in terms of central midfielders, numbers like these are simply unheard of.

Bentancur is also very adept at beating his man; however, he cannot come close to the levels of Dembele, with the South American having a dribble success rate of 66.7%, so far this season.

However, when it comes to the defensive third Bentancur beats Dembele – Bentancur is currently winning 1.6 tackles a game compared to the Belgian who only won 1.15 tackles in the 2017-18 season. Bentancur also outweighs Dembele in terms of blocks with the Uruguayan currently making 1.6 blocks a game compared to Dembele’s 0.96.

Dembele, though was no defensive slouch – with the Belgian (1.58) beating Bentancur in terms of interceptions (1.37).

One of Dembele’s main criticisms while in North London was that he did not contribute to enough goals from midfield- with his best tally coming back in the 2012/13 season in which he contributed to 7 goals. These criticisms cannot be aimed at Bentancur though as has already hit Dembele’s best tally in just 20 appearances so far this season.

The final way in which you can compare the two midfielders is of course when it comes to passing. The two are fairly similar in terms of distribution with both being reliable on the ball however Dembele (92.1%) edges Bentancur (84.7%) when it comes to pass completion.

All said and done both midfielders are an absolute joy to watch but hopefully Bentancur can do what Dembele could not and leave North London with some silverware…