The underlying numbers show that Tottenham Hotspur are missing one key player who could take their attack to the next level.

Brazilian international Savio has had a pretty solid start to life in North London since his £85million move from Manchester City in the summer.

In the games he has featured in for Tottenham, Savio has looked like a live wire with his dribbling and passing, standing out at Spurs.

In fact, Savio ranks seventh for successful dribbles in the Premier League this season and third at Tottenham, with only Mohammed Kudus and Mathys Tel completing more.

Unfortunately, though, the wide forward has spent the last few weeks sidelined after picking up a muscle problem, but somehow he continues to top one key stat in the Premier League.

Tottenham winger Savio tops Premier League for key passes

According to SofaScore, no other player in the English top flight has averaged more key passes per match than Savio.

The winger averages a league-high 2.75 key passes per game, slightly more than Pascal Gross in second, with the Brighton man averaging 2.67 key passes per match.

The Brazilian also ranks highly for big chances created per game in the Premier League, coming in seventh with 0.75, the highest of any Spurs player.

These numbers are particularly impressive given the wide forward has only managed four starts in the League thus far.

Savio’s return could take Spurs to another level

So far, though, with Tottenham securing victories in Savio’s absence, one could easily conclude that the winger has not been missed.

And while the results point to that, there is every reason to believe that Savio’s return could take Tottenham to another level if they continue to perform at their best.

His chance creation should naturally mean that Spurs score more. At the moment, no Spurs player is as creative as the Brazilian, with Andy Robertson the second-highest ranked Tottenham player for big chances created, with the full-back creating 0.5 per game.

In terms of key passes per match, Robertson is again the second-highest ranked Spurs player, averaging 1.63 per match, a fair way off Savio.

Roberto De Zerbi said after the Palace game that he needs his side to be more ruthless, and such ruthlessness will come when better, clear-cut chances are created, which is exactly what Savio brings.

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