Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso ‘most impressive’ with 92 per cent display in victory v Bournemouth
Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso proved he is worthy of a spot in Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs side during the 3-1 win against Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve.
The Cherries arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium unbeaten in their past seven league matches but saw that run brought to an end by the north London side.
Despite the makeshift nature of the Spurs team, the hosts were able to see off Andoni Iraola’s men to end 2023 on a high, with Rodrigo Bentancur’s surprise inclusion in the team a huge boost to Postecoglou.
Nonetheless, it was the performance of another midfielder that will leave the Australian particularly pleased.
Lo Celso has been in and out of the team in recent weeks but has often performed well when selected, with the win over Bournemouth no exception to this.
With Dejan Kulusevski suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 4-2 defeat at Brighton (28 December), the Argentina international was called upon to make just his fourth league start of the season, and he ended up proving to be one of the most influential players for the hosts.
The Athletic’s Tottenham correspondent, Jack Pitt-Brooke, described Lo Celso as one of the “most impressive” players for Tottenham via his official X account (31 December).
As per Sofascore, it was hard to disagree with this verdict, with Lo Celso incredibly effective in possession, completing 92 per cent of his passes, with two of those key.
In addition, he played two accurate long balls forward and was successful with 100 per cent of the dribbles he attempted (three out of three). He won an impressive 10 of his 13 ground duels and made three tackles, as well as one interception and one clearance.
But it was his assist for Son Heung-min’s goal that was, indeed, most impressive, as he lifted the ball forward from midfield into the path of the South Korea international, who finished well to double Spurs’ lead late in the second half.
It was the type of creative flair that Tottenham have missed in the absence of England international, James Maddison, and was evidence from the 27-year-old that he can be relied upon to fill that void.
He will certainly be needed in January, with Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Maddison all expected to be unavailable, and will need to continue proving to Postecoglou that he can perform consistently and is therefore worth keeping around at Hotspur Way.
In other Tottenham news, one 20 per cent Spurs ace showed against Bournemouth that he has more gears to go through despite Postecoglou’s “super” admission.