A game that could have put Tottenham in a great position to challenge leaders Chelsea ultimately came to a missed opportunity for Mauricio Pochettino's men. Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all dropped points yesterday while Spurs arguably had the easiest tie up against Sunderland last night and still dropped two vital points.

The day got off to a bad start as fans were made aware that captain, Hugo Lloris, did not travel with the squad up North due to an illness. However, this would end up not being a problem as the Lilywhites kept their 10th clean sheet of the season, only three less than fellow Londoners, Chelsea.

Solid display once again from the men at the back

Michel Vorm - 5 - The Dutch replacement for Frenchmen Lloris ultimately had a solid yet uneventful game as he only faced one shot on target the whole game, a weak effort from striker Fabio Borini.

Kyle Walker - 6 - Due to the change of formation, from three to four at the back, Walker found it harder than usual to push up the field but still had some joy up against Spanish defender, Javier Manquillo.

Eric Dier - 5 - Much like Vorm and Dier's fellow defenders, it was a very routine game where no real threat was posed by the very lacklustre Sunderland attack, which included former Spur Jermain Defoe.

Toby Alderweireld - 6 - The main part of the Belgian's game came from his attacking threat. Alderweireld's diagonal balls were apparent throughout the game but ultimately did not help conjure up any real attempts on goal for the North Londoners.

Danny Rose - 7 - Rose's game was cut short to only 38 minutes as the English international came off worse in a 50/50 challenge against a Sunderland attacker. However, while on the field the full back was possibly Spurs' strongest attacking threat against Billy Jones on the right of the Sunderland back five.

Double pivot proves the strongest point in Spurs' team

Victor Wanyama - 6.5 - In a game where Spurs dominated the ball with 71.8% possession, it was always likely that the Kenyan would push up the field and try and add to the attack. A few wayward shots along with a wasted header proved the end of the attacking for Wanyama on the day as he allowed Moussa Dembele to venture further forward.

Moussa Dembele - 7.5 - Once again, there was no need for the secondary holding midfielder so Dembele ultimately adopted a new role further up the pitch. The Belgian's superb ball control was on display as he skipped past two, three maybe even four Sunderland players at a time in the quest for that all elusive goal.

Lacklustre Attack

Dele Alli - 5 - The England international had a bad day at the office especially in his current form, after missing that golden touch in the golden jersey.

Christian Eriksen - 6 - Just like Alli, Eriksen's touch seemed to be off and sometimes not there at all yesterday as himself and the attack alike fell short of par and did not put a real thread onto the Sunderland back five.

Heung-Min Son - 6 - After a stellar performance against Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend, the addition of Son to the Spurs starting 11 looked a good one. However, this wouldn't turn out to be true as the Korean was frustrated all game and apart from occasional crosses into the box didn't pose a real threat.

Harry Kane - 5 - It seems that this Spurs team might revolve more heavily around the English striker as previously thought. The game proved a difficult one for the striker. After being closely guarded by John O'Shea, Kane was not given many touches of the ball and it just seemed he was having the occasional 'off day,'

Substitutes

Ben Davies - 5 - As Danny Rose's replacement, Davies didn't make the most of it as the attacking threat wasn't there.

Moussa Sissoko - 5.5 - After receiving a hostile welcome from the home fans, the French winger posed no real threat once again as he was blocked off any attacks by the very aware Sunderland defence.

Vincent Janssen - N/A.