The three players in contention are Paulihno, Eriksen and Sigurdsson. Let's take a look at their form cards.
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Tottenham
Midfield
| Points | %Mins | xGoals/90 | xAssists/90 | aPts/90 | %Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 66% | 0.29 | 0.08 | 2.2 | 20% | ||
| CRY(A) | 3 | 90 | 0.9,0.44 | 0.9,0.15 | 5.9,3.44 | 0.8,0.25 | |
| SWA(H) | 1 | 26 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.00 | ||
| ARS(A) | 0 | 0 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.00 | ||
| NOR(H) |  | 16 | 78 | 0.9,0.39 | 0.9,0.03 | 5.9,2.72 | 0.8,0.20 |
| CAR(A) | 3 | 70 | 0.9,0.10 | 0.9,0.16 | 5.9,1.16 | 0.8,0.06 | |
| CHE(H) | | 9 | 90 | 0.9,0.22 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,1.50 | 0.8,0.28 |
Paulinho
Tottenham
Midfield
| Points | %Mins | xGoals/90 | xAssists/90 | aPts/90 | %Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 100% | 0.25 | 0.14 | 2.1 | 15% | ||
| CRY(A) | 3 | 90 | 0.9,0.03 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.20 | 0.8,0.01 | |
| SWA(H) | 3 | 90 | 0.9,0.69 | 0.9,0.14 | 5.9,5.11 | 0.8,0.36 | |
| ARS(A) | 1 | 90 | 0.9,0.08 | 0.9,0.22 | 5.9,1.20 | 0.8,0.15 | |
| NOR(H) |  | 6 | 90 | 0.9,0.03 | 0.9,0.14 | 5.9,0.61 | 0.8,0.05 |
| CAR(A) | | 11 | 90 | 0.9,0.62 | 0.9,0.31 | 5.9,5.15 | 0.8,0.25 |
| CHE(H) | 2 | 90 | 0.9,0.06 | 0.9,0.03 | 5.9,0.48 | 0.8,0.09 |
Christian Eriksen
Tottenham
Midfield
| Points | %Mins | xGoals/90 | xAssists/90 | aPts/90 | %Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 42% | 0.08 | 0.25 | 1.3 | 9% | ||
| CRY(A) | 0 | 0 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.00 | ||
| SWA(H) | 0 | 0 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.00 | ||
| ARS(A) | 0 | 0 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.00 | 5.9,0.00 | ||
| NOR(H) | | 7 | 70 | 0.9,0.17 | 0.9,0.34 | 5.9,2.19 | 0.8,0.16 |
| CAR(A) | 3 | 88 | 0.9,0.06 | 0.9,0.35 | 5.9,1.44 | 0.8,0.07 | |
| CHE(H) | 1 | 69 | 0.9,0.00 | 0.9,0.06 | 5.9,0.18 | 0.8,0.03 |
Clearly it's Gylfi Sigurdsson (or Siggy to his mates) who is the main goal threat in this Spur's midfield, he has produced some decent goal threat in every game he's started, and this is why he's scored 3 goals already despite less minutes. But herein lies the issue. At the start of the season it looked like he was out in the cold, with Villas-Boas favouring new signing Chaldi instead. Chaldi got injured so Siggy had his chance, and took it. It looks like AVB will stick with Sigurdsson for a game or two more but long term his gametime is at risk.
Paulinho (Pauli to his mates) has a decent xGoals value and his shot stats are not far behind from Sigurdsson's and he has better assist potential. However, you can clearly see he's had two stand-out games against SWA(H) and CAR(A) and the rest he's been slightly anonymous, other than creating some chances. Is this a pattern we can predict?
At first glance, you could argue he's done well in games where the opposition have allowed Spur's midfield to push right up the field. Paulihno's role in the Spur's team is no doubt the most flexible/dynamic in Villas-Boas' eyes. In a difficult game he'll be asked to drop in alongside Demeble and co., an easier fixture will allow him to join the attack.
Christian Eriksen (Eric to close friends) is a talented footballer and in theory should be the best option for fantasy football with his free attacking role up behind the striker. His performances to date don't bear that out though. His creativity has been great, with the highest xAssist value in the Spurs team, but he is not shooting enough to get big fantasy points.
VERDICT
First, let us say we have Eriksen in our own team and are not particularly pleased with what we are seeing so far. We are clinging to the hope that his class and position in the team will come good with a few more games under his belt. In a vacuum Sigurdsson would be be the stand-out pick, but we are not in a vacuum, we are in a fiercely competitive online game! If you have built a squad that can take a risk on Siggy losing his place then it's a risk worth taking.
All things considered we have to venture Paulinho as the best player to own from the Spur's midfield at this time. He has a long term stability, decent goal and assist threat, plus is actually the cheapest of the three. The drawback would appear to be a tendency to play to the more defensive side of his game in a tougher fixture but the near future sees Spurs face several teams he should be allowed to push on.
