Sunday 18 September 2016 15:48, UK
Ahead of Tottenham's clash with Sunderland on Super Sunday, Danny Higginbotham breaks down why Mousa Dembele holds the key to Harry Kane's performances.
Despite netting at Stoke last time out in the Premier League, Kane has struggled to recapture his best form for Spurs so far this season.
But that could change against Sunderland as Dembele is set to return to the starting line-up for the first time since serving a six-game suspension.
"I think it's all down to one player," Danny Higginbotham tells Sky Sports. "Going into this season, in the 13 games where Dembele has not played, Harry Kane has scored only two goals.
"That tells me that he's an important cog who'll feed the likes of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Erik Lamela."
It's a different midfield threat to the one posed by Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama. "What Dembele does more than Dier and Wanyama is he will go forwards," adds Higginbotham.
"Dier and Wanyama are fantastic defensive midfielders but they aren't going to cause problems for the [opposition midfielders]. Dembele does. He will get the ball and he will take it forward.
"If you're a midfield player against Dembele, you've got a decision to make. At what point does Jack Rodwell say, 'I need to go towards Dembele' and, if he doesn't go, does Duncan Watmore go?
"What you see is that it has a knock-on effect. What you'll find is that somewhere along the way Eriksen, Alli and Lamela will find themselves free."
Alli provided seven assists for Kane in the Premier League last season - a joint-high - while Eriksen set up four of his own for the England striker. But Higginbotham argues it all comes from Dembele.
"Getting him on the ball is key for Tottenham," he says. "Getting him driving through midfield and unsettling the opposition midfield. Making them make decisions they don't want to make.
"For me, Dembele is so important not only to Tottenham being successful but to Harry Kane scoring goals."
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