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Tottenham may be in fourth place after seven games of the new Premier League season but the Lilywhites just haven't been at their best so far this term. Defeats to Watford, Inter Milan and Liverpool in subsequent games highlighted the cracks and rather tellingly, Spurs have already suffered almost a third of all the top flight defeats inflicted upon them last season.

Explanations aren't hard to find, ranging from the delayed return to White Hart Lane to the feeling of stagnation caused by the failure to make any signings during the summer transfer window. But one of the key causes is undoubtedly the muted form of Harry Kane, whose own performances have been symptomatic of Tottenham's.

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Five goals from seven games is a phenomenal return on paper, just as 15 points from seven is nothing to be sniffed at either, but scratch a little deeper and the England captain has by no means been the same unrelenting force that took the game to so many sides in Europe last term and pushed Mohamed Salah all the way in the Golden Boot race.

Once again, explanations remain varied and speculative, one of the most prominent being a physical and mental hangover from the World Cup. There's surely some truth in that, especially as Kane seemed to lose his sharpness the longer the tournament went on, but perhaps another important factor - as it would be for any striker - is the service into the 25-year-old.

Christian Eriksen - who Transfermarkt value at £72million - has been almost as indispensable as Kane to Pochettino's successes in north London, but the Danish international has started the new term slowly. In fact, the statistics show that Eriksen is averaging around 0.4 key passes per match less than he was last season, while the number of accurate crosses he's produced has declined by the same amount too. Instead, Eriksen is more actively trying to find the net himself - despite being yet to get on the scoresheet this season.

In some respects, it's a case of the chicken or the egg; is Kane's form affecting Eriksen's, or is Eriksen's affecting Kane's? Perhaps it's a bit of both, because neither have really attacked the new Premier League season in the way you'd expect of a talismanic entity at a top six club, but it's surely telling that Kane's first brace of the campaign came last Saturday against Huddersfield in the only top flight game Eriksen has missed so far.

Tottenham fans, are you concerned with Eriksen's start to the new season? Let us know by voting below...

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