Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne has heaped praise on Christian Eriksen, labelling the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder “underrated”.
The two players are set to go head-to-head on Tuesday night when City and Spurs meet in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
De Bruyne, who has played down the influence Tottenham’s new stadium could have on the tie, hasn’t been at his best this season due to injuries.
But the Belgian remains one of City’s most dangerous players and will be looking to open up Spurs whenever possible.
In response, Eriksen will hope to exploit the gaps City inevitably leave, and De Bruyne thinks the Dane has the quality to cause Pep Gaurdiola’s side problems.
“I like a player like Eriksen. Very underrated in peoples’ minds. He creates a lot of chances for his teammates. I know him already from his time at Ajax,” De Bruyne told BT Sport (via Football London).
Eriksen has struggled for consistency in recent weeks with some suggesting talk of a potential summer move to Real Madrid is becoming a source of distraction.
The 27-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of next season, scored the second goal at Tottenham’s new stadium against Crystal Palace last week.
We think Eriksen will start in a 4-3-3 against Manchester City – check out our predicted Spurs XI here.
The thing about De Bruyne is that he’s not terribly original, is he?