Will Eriksen keep playing in central midfield?

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Christian Eriksen is one of the most consistent fantasy football performers in the game. In the previous four season, the Dane has scored or assisted 16, 14, 27 and 28 goals respectively.

The last two seasons has seen his productivity effectively double, with the addition of Dele Alli to the Tottenham Hotspur front-three.

But Eriksen has been directly involved in just one goal in his past five league games and is without an assist in nine Gameweek, why is this?

No assist since Gameweek 2

Eriksen has always been considered the creator of the Spurs team, with 16 and 20 assists in his previous two seasons, and it’s easy to see why. But, he has not assisted a goal in the league since Gameweek 2 against Chelsea. That’s nearly a quarter of a season without creating a goal for arguably the most creative player in the league.

Through the first four Gameweeks, Eriksen assisted three goals and scored another against Newcastle (A), Chelsea (H), Burnley (H) and Everton (A).

During that time, he created 10 chances and made eight successful crosses from 32 attempts. He also had 18 touches in the box.

In front of goal, he has 15 attempts, nine of which were in the box and six were on target.

But in the last four Gameweeks, his production has fallen to just one goal, as he has been deployed in the central midfield pairing and not in his favoured attacking midfielder position.

From Gameweek 7-11, his touches in the box fell from 18 to 15. His attempts fell from 15 to 10. Only two of his shots were in the box, down from nine and just four found the target.

So why is Eriksen not finding himself in the box as often any more?

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Eriksen’s reduced role

Spurs started off the season in a 4231, with Mousa Dembele pairing Victor Wanyama or Eric Dier in a central pair. Injuries have forced them both see reduced minutes, opening the door for Eric Dier to secure the spot for himself alongside Moussa Sissoko, Harry Winks and more recently Christian Eriksen.

The Dane has been played twice in central midfield in the last four games, against Liverpool and Manchester United.

From the heatmap we can Eriksen has seen less of the ball in advanced central positions and has seen more of the ball in his own half. Not something you want to see from one of your premium midfielders.

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Injuries forcing Eriksen back

Ideally, Mauricio Pochettino likes to line up with a destroyer and a more mobile midfielder in the heart of the midfield. The mobile midfielder’s role is to bring the ball forward to the deadly front three of Eriksen, Alli and Kane. In an injury free world, the pair would be Wanyama and Dembele.

Wanyama’s knee injury has opened the door for Eric Dier to take on the role of the destroyer in the midfield. Dembele’s lack of fitness has seen his role split between Sissoko, Winks and Eriksen.

Dier slipped from the midfield against Liverpool because of an illness on the Friday before the game. He returned to the lineup the following week against Manchester United as Davison Sanchez was surprisingly dropped to the bench. Against Crystal Palace, he remained in defence to cover for the injured Toby Alderweireld.

Heung-Min Son started his first league game this season on the right of a 4231. Following the tactical switch to a 343, Son has started as a LWB instead of Davies in Gameweek 5 and 8. Since then he has started every Gameweek, either upfront covering for the injured Kane against United in GW10, or in Eriksen’s role in Gameweek 9. Dele Alli couldn’t start against Crystal Palace, which opened up the attacking midfielder spots for both Son and Eriksen.

It seems that injuries have forced the versatile Eriksen to move away from his preferred role and may keep him there at least for the foreseeable future. The injury to Alderweireld will force Dier back into the defence for the foreseeable future as Alderweireld does not have a return date yet on the Hamstring injury he sustained on November 1.

With the packed Christmas break coming up, we cannot be sure that Pochettino will not push Eriksen into a central midfield role if other players are rested either.

Leading by example

Eriksen’s strong early-season form helped Denmark gain 10 points from their last four games to earn them a spot in the play-offs against Ireland for the World Cup. Eriksen scored in each game and provided a further three assists. All of this was done while playing in the number 10 position in a 4-2-3-1.

Denmark have two crucial play-off games on November 11 and 14, four days before the North London Derby on November 18.