Tottenham are one of the form teams not just in the Premier League but the entirety of Europe. Spurs are joint-top of the table after 8 match weeks into the season. Ange Postecoglou’s men have been near perfect so far, thanks to several players stepping up in their performances.

The defensive unit has been vital so far, and one member who has had a rejuvenation is right-back Pedro Porro.

The visualisation below shows where Pedro Porro ranks for some of the key metrics when compared with the other right-backs from Europe’s Tier 1 leagues.

Pedro Porro’s 2022/23 season after moving from Sporting Lisbon was below average, and the defender failed to perform consistently. Porro played more often in a back-four but at times also played as the right-back in a back-four.

This season, however, he has regularly played as a right-back in a back-four. He has played in all but the opening game of the season and has consistently improved his performances in all of these games since.

He has quite often been found centrally on the pitch, with the defender playing an essential role in possession, as seen in the visual above. He ranks very high for several passing metrics, including Progressive passes per 90 minutes.

His defensive abilities have always been under question. However, the current manager thinks he is the best of the currently available players, and Porro has justified that. His positioning was the most considerable criticism of that all, with Porro getting caught in no man’s land quite often, but he seems to have improved in that aspect and is more aggressive in his duels as well now.

When Porro first signed for Spurs, he was touted to be more attacking than defensive, but the playing style last season did not bring the best out of his attacking abilities. He is not a frequent crosser of the ball as he is most often found to be inverting, but this kind of a role in the team allows him to be positioned to attack the box more often and take a shot at goal.

Porro has been vital and seems to be progressing well under Postecoglou so far, but it will be interesting to see if he can keep up this form throughout the season.