Tottenham star Destiny Udogie shines among Premier League best, pundit has him in team of the season
Destiny Udogie has been named among the best Premier League left-backs this season, with former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy naming him in his team of the season.
The Lilywhites full-back has had a spectacular debut campaign in England, registering two goals and three assists as he helped Ange Postecoglou’s side to a fifth-placed finish in the top flight.
In fact, he has been so good that talkSPORT pundit Murphy has listed him in his Premier League team of the season for the campaign.
“Left-back, I think [Destiny] Udogie for me, young lad brought in, first season in the Premier League at Tottenham,” he said (15 May).
“I know he’s been injured the last few weeks but overall his season has been terrific. Been a breath of fresh air, powerful, adventurous, skilful, can defend as well, quick.
Udogie stands up against Premier League’s best statistically
While some may say that s biased towards the start of the campaign when the team was flying, the stats prove otherwise.
When comparing the Italy international to the other top left-backs in the league in Andy Robertson, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Lucas Digne who all finished in the top four, you can see that the Spurs man really does belong there.
Despite his injury problems he has played more minutes than them all (via FBref), made more successful tackles than each, made more successful blocks than each and more interceptions than them all.
The argument can be made that it’s because they play in more forward-thinking teams therefore they have less defending to do, but his attacking stats shine too.
In fact when it comes to touches in the opposition box when attacking, Udogie ranks in the 94th percentile among other full-backs in the world not just the Premier League.
Udogie’s take ons in the attacking aspect of the game stand him way ahead of his rivals, with a 41.4% success rate compared to 33.3% of Tomiyasu which is his closest rival.
He is a better dribbler, better one v one defender and more of an attacking threat. His pass completion stats at 93% put him way ahead of his rivals too, which shows he absolutely belongs in this conversation.
Tottenham have got a superstar on their hands in Udogie, and at just 21-years-old he is only going to get better. There can be no argument that he is one of the very best left-backs in the league.
In other Tottenham news, the club are expected to try and “take advantage” of potential new FA rules.
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