Five Truths: Dele Alli cost Spurs, Europa League is Manchester United's to lose

Christian Eriksen has struggled a bit at the start of the season and it can be no coincidence that he looked back to his best when Mauricio Pochettino moved Spurs to a back three. This formation allows Kyle Walker and (usually) Danny Rose to dominate the flanks so Eriksen moves in to play behind Kane with Dele Alli.

On a night where Alli's petulance let him down, Eriksen was fantastic. Linking the play and pushing forward himself as much as he could. Goalscoring is something we associate more with Alli than Eriksen but the Dane really could have scored more than once on Thursday. His touch for Victor Wanyama's goal was beautiful.

The decision to play Eriksen out left is to give as much freedom to Alli makes sense but the new system shows that both can be accommodated centrally. With everyone bar Rose and Erik Lamela fully fit three at the back is surely the way to go between now and the end of the season?

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It may have slipped under the radar but three Belgian teams have managed to make it through to the last 16 of the Europa League, with Anderlecht and Genk joining Gent in the next round. A league that is famed for the players it sells, and of course it's complicated play-off rules, has seriously overachieved.

It's not as if Gent were lucky either. Of course they had to do a lot of defending and played against ten men for over a half but they were mostly pretty well organised, aside from their bizarre refusal to mark Walker.

They took their chances and actually could have scored a couple more, there were some gilt-edged chances in the second-half as Spurs pushed forwards.

It's a great moment for Gent and it means that Belgium will be the best represented nation in the last 16. There's also 12 different nations represented in the next round, a stark contrast to previous years that have been dominated by a select few.

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Of course this is the sort of tournament that can spring up all sorts of surprises but Manchester United are very much the team to beat now. Roma, despite losing at home tonight, look impressive, and Schalke and Gladbach will be dangerous but there is no fish bigger than the United shark.

In Jose Mourinho they have a man who has won the Champions League twice and it seems as if he has finally found the right balance for his team. They have lost just twice in all competitions since the beginning of November and they seem to be dealing with everything that has been thrown their way.

Qualification for the Champions League next season is no longer secure thanks to the competitive nature of the Premier League but the Europa League offers that tangible reward. Mourinho has often derided this competition but right now it offers a golden opportunity.

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It was a good night for Manchester United without even kicking a ball, but rule the remaining sides out at your peril.

With Tottenham, Athletic Bilbao, Zenit and Shakhtar all losing to ‘lesser opposition’, it proves that this tournament is anything but weak. And despite some of the bigger names crashing out on Thursday night, the likes of Roma, Ajax and Lyon still remain.

United are rightfully favourites, but the last-16 draw is littered with potential slip-ups. Spurs proved that no team should be taken lightly and that these smaller clubs will be up for the fight when it comes to playing at venues such as Wembley - or Old Trafford, for that matter.

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Dele Alli has on more than one occasion in his nascent career got involved in unnecessary altercations. This may have been the Tottenham man’s first career red card but Alli missed the run in last season after being retrospectively banned for three games after lashing out at West Brom midfielder Claudio Yacob.

He has form and he needs to cut it out. Gent played well but were certainly there for the taking but they played over half the game with 10 men. Alli did not do serious damage to Brecht Dejaegere with what was a horror challenge; he did however do serious damage to Tottenham’s season.