View: 25% Tottenham ace simply has to step up amid 'Really Concerning' Sky Sports update

Radu Dragusin quite simply has to step up and perform regularly for Tottenham – starting against Manchester City – amid a “really concerning” team news update shared by Sky Sports.

Reporter James Savundra shared from Tottenham’s training ground live on Sky Sports News [21 November, 2:06pm] that Dragusin looks certain to start at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.

This is a result of Cristian Romero likely being absent and Micky van de Ven definitely being out until December.

Savundra said: “The team news is really concerning heading into the game against the champions, with the potential to be without both front-line centre-backs.

“Cristian Romero is a doubt for the game. Congratulations to him – his partner gave birth earlier this week and he was given leave to be with her, having gone off injured for Argentina.

“When I spoke to Ange earlier, he said Micky van de Ven is a couple of weeks from returning from injury.

“As for this weekend, Radu Dragusin has a great chance of playing. He joined in January and has a real opportunity to impress this weekend.”

Will Cristian Romero play against Manchester City?

Speaking to reporters at his pre-match press conference on Thursday (21 November), Postecoglou could only confirm that Romero is “definitely a doubt”.

If the worst happens and Romero is ruled out, it will likely mean Ben Davies having to shift over to partner Dragusin in a makeshift central-defensive pairing.

Plenty of eyes will be on Dragusin, who has started just three Premier League games this season. While that is a small sample size, his 279 minutes on the field do give a rough indication of what he is about.

As per WhoScored, Dragusin registers only 0.3 tackles per game. To put that into context, Van de Ven averages 0.9 and Romero 2.3, so there is a clear gulf there.

Dragusin’s 0.8 interceptions per 90, meanwhile, is a below that of Romero (1.2) and Van de Ven (1.1).

Where the Romania international does fair well, though, is in terms of interceptions, registering 2.8 per game – near identical to that of Van de Ven (2.9) and just higher than Romero’s 2.7.

Dragusin has his shortfalls, explaining why he is behind Van de Ven and Romero in the pecking order, but the 2.83 aerials he wins per 90 minutes [FBref] ranks him among the top 15 percentile of all centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues over the past 12 months.

Again, though, he ranks particularly lowly for tackles per 90 (0.94) as he is in the bottom 10 percentile – clearly an area he needs to improve.

What Dragusin may now get is a run of games in the heart of defence. After making an error leading to a goal against Ipswich, a game in which he won just one of his four ground duels (25 per cent) [Sofascore], an improvement is needed.

Up against the reigning Premier League champions, now is the time for Dragusin to stand up and be counted.

In other Tottenham news, Jamie O’Hara has torn one player at the club to shreds.

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