Djed Spence’s starting spot at risk after what his Tottenham teammate did vs Monaco
Tottenham relied on Guglielmo Vicario’s brilliance against Monaco to come back to England with a lucky point as Thomas Frank has some crucial decisions to make for his team selection.
Lucas Bergvall was one of Tottenham’s awful performers in the Champions League on 22 October as they scraped a fortunate draw.
The Lilywhites looked completely second best to Monaco as they continued their underwhelming set of displays which go as far back as their 1-0 win over Villarreal on the 16 September.
Pedro Porro also frustrated Tottenham fans in the 0-0 stalemate as Frank weighs up what to do with his stuttering side ahead of a clash against Everton on 26 October.
Djed Spence was one of the Spurs stars who received a rest midweek, yet the performance of one of his fellow youngsters will certainly worry him over his starting spot moving forward.
Spence forced to watch from the bench as Archie Gray stepped up in his absence
Spence was limited to an 11 minute cameo off the bench as Archie Gray took advantage of his first start since the 3-0 win over Doncaster on 24 September.
Filling in at left-back in an unfamiliar role, the young Englishman was defensively resolute, making two interceptions, four clearances and four recoveries.
Moreover, he delivered one key pass, maintaining a 90 per cent passing accuracy rate to try and get his struggling Spurs side up the pitch.
As shown by the action areas map in the second half, courtesy of Football Insider’s data partnership with Opta, the Lilywhites were fighting to stay in the match with most of the action in their defensive third (34.3 per cent).
Gray was imperative to preventing Monaco advancing down his left-hand side, ensuring not a single player dribbled past him in the 90 minutes as pressure mounted in the second half on the Spurs defence.
The 19-year-old is better known for playing as a centre-midfielder, yet his positional versatility has turned him into a marvellous asset for Frank.
Spence not a match for Gray as Thomas Frank has huge call to make at left-back for Tottenham
Whilst the former Leeds player has played significantly less this season, his brief appearances indicate the ex-Brentford boss is starting the wrong man at left-back.
Despite playing six games more than Gray, Spence is defensively weaker than his teammate across various stats as per FBRef in all competitions this season.
The former Nottingham Forest full-back has a passing accuracy of just 80.4 per cent, far less than Gray’s 91.4 per cent.
Moreover, the number 14 has a higher dribblers tackled percentage of 66.7, surpassing Spence’s 57.1 per cent.
| Selected stats 2025-26 all competitions (as of 23 October) | Djed Spence | Archie Gray |
| Appearances (starts) | 12 (10) | 6 (3) |
| Minutes played | 813 | 280 |
| Passing accuracy (%) | 80.4% | 91.4% |
| Dribblers tackled (%) | 57.1% | 66.7% |
| Recoveries per-90 | 2.92 | 4.74 |
| Clearances per-90 | 2.36 | 4.21 |
Additionally, the 19-year-old has more recoveries per-90 at 4.74, highlighting his superior work rate with his compatriot sitting on just 2.92.
The stats and eye test are alarmingly indicating that Frank must switch up his left-back spot after Gray’s short but stunning spells in the Spurs team as Spence’s carelessness and laziness is now catching up to him.