Tottenham Hotspur journalist Charlie Eccleshare noted that Rodrigo Bentancur endured a 'tough' spell in the first half of the Premier League clash with Manchester United on Saturday. 

The lowdown

Bentancur made his fifth start for Antonio Conte's side since his January move from Juventus.

He partnered Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in central midfield in the Italian's 3-4-3 shape.

The two sides, who no doubt have equal aspirations of finishing in the top four, looked to be edging towards a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford as Spurs twice came from behind, but Cristiano Ronaldo wrapped up his hat-trick with a thumping header late on.

The latest

Eccleshare, Spurs correspondent for The Athletic, wrote on Twitter that Bentancur had been 'absolutely done' by Paul Pogba's 'drop of the shoulder' in one passage of play, and also noted that United midfielder Fred outwitted £22.5million-rated Bentancur in the build-up to Ronaldo's long-range opener.

The verdict

It was a mixed evening for Bentancur, as reflected by his SofaScore rating of 7.1/10.

On the ball, he performed well, completing 59 out of 64 passes to notch an accuracy of 92%, and he made those passes count, creating three chances (including one big chance).

However, as you might assume from Eccleshare's comments, it's off the ball where an improvement is required.

The 24-year-old won barely over 50 per cent of his duels and was dribbled past twice.

By contrast, partner Hojbjerg prevailed in eight out of ten duels, whilst still maintaining a 90% passing accuracy.

In other news, an Italian source has dropped a big update on Dybala.