Following a blank summer with England at Euro 2016 – a tournament for which he will be remembered largely for his corner-taking – striker Harry Kane has yet to find the net for Tottenham this season.
In fact, going into the early kick-off against Liverpool at White Hart Lane the 23-year-old had made nine Premier League appearances in the month of August but not managed to score a goal. Make that 10.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at the performance of last season’s 28-goal striker in the clash against the Reds.
PERFORMANCE
Kane was virtually anonymous, with the game passing him by. Liverpool defenders Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren kept tight to the centre-forward and he was involved in numerous scuffles with the duo. Kane’s work-rate is never in question, he will run and chase all afternoon, but ultimately he is in the side to provide goals.
GOALSCORING OPPORTUNITES
Zero. Kane did not manage a single attempt on goal. His luck was out in the first half when a ball over the top looked set to fall kindly for him in the penalty area but ended up bouncing over his head and he was hounded out by the Reds defence.
Kane was forced to drop a little deeper and popped up out wide on occasion as he looked to make an impact. The introduction of Vincent Janssen as a second striker midway through the first half made little difference to Kane’s game, pushing him further out wide if anything. Following Spurs’ equaliser Kane almost found himself in on goal down the left-hand side but the pass to him was slightly overhit.
CREATIVITY
Kane never looked like scoring and also struggled to create anything for his Spurs team-mates. He a ttempted a through-ball to Christian Eriksen which was comfortably cut out and followed that with an underhit pass to Eric Dier as he broke into the area unopposed. Kane won plenty of flick-ons, especially in the second half, but struggled to pick out a white shirt with any of them.
OVERALL
It’s been 96 days since Kane’s last goal, and on this evidence his barren spell will continue. A quiet afternoon was summed up when he was taken out of the action with eight minutes remaining to be replaced by youngster Josh Onomah as Spurs pushed for a winner. With Sam Allardyce’s first England squad named on Sunday, Kane did little to impress. But despite a lacklustre display, the forward will almost certainly keep his place.
