Teddy Sheringham has given his verdict on Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo, regarding their style of play on the football pitch and who he would've liked to play alongside.
There is pressure on both players to perform at the high standard everyone knows they can, but there have been a mixture of performances produced from the Tottenham and Man United stars so far this season.
Spurs are currently in seventh place in the league, whilst the Red Devils sit two points in front of them in fifth, although the Lilywhites have two games in hand.
These two matches were called off due to bad weather and a Covid outbreak that is still having an impact on the club.
Last season, Kane scored 23 goals and registered 14 assists in 35 Premier League appearances, whilst Ronaldo scored 29 goals and got two assists in 33 Serie A appearances.
Now both players are playing in the same league, but whilst the Portuguese star has already scored seven in 13 appearances, the England captain has scored just one.
However, Sheringham still had praise for the three-time golden boot winner, in an exclusive interview with football.london, in association with 978bet.
"Harry Kane's been getting a lot of criticism and rightly so I suppose, you take the acclaim when you're playing really well and scoring goals, he hasn't been doing that this season but I saw him in the Leeds game," the former Spurs player said about the 28-year-old's performance in the recent 2-1 victory over Marcelo Bielsa's side.
"It wasn't good in the first half and even when it wasn't good, Harry was still very professional in his manner, the way he led the line, it was obvious things weren't going right at the time for him or the club but he just played everything how it needed to be played and I think he led by example in that game and then the rest of the team followed in the second half."
Both players have received some criticism so far this season, with Kane being far from his best after a failed move to Man City in the summer. Ronaldo is continuing to produce goals but some have criticised his perceived selfishness on the pitch, which Sheringham also commented on.
"I wouldn't really put Harry Kane and Ronaldo in the same position," he said when asked how the two players compare.
"I know Ronaldo has ended up as a centre forward but for me, he's not really a centre forward. He's a wide boy, maybe a number 10 at a push but he's definitely not a centre forward. He scores goals like a centre forward at times, where he scores his headers that you just think 'wow what a great header', standing jump and power it back where it's come from, fantastic but when you talk about centre forwards I talk about Lukaku, Benzema, Harry Kane, people that play that centre forward role.
"There's no one better for me than Harry Kane. I think he's the best number nine in the world at the moment. He's not really showing it but if you had to pick someone to be a number nine for you, I'm not going much further than Harry Kane at the moment."
Their different styles of play was also something the 55-year-old explained as the reason the Tottenham striker can't take anything from Ronaldo's game and put it into his own.
"Harry Kane is what he is," Sheringham said. "You can't change the characteristics of players.
"Ronaldo couldn't be a centre forward the way Harry Kane plays it, because he doesn't like playing with his back to goal. Ronaldo is one that wants to run onto things and see things in front of him whereas Harry can play the game with his back to goal, front to goal. They're just two completely different number nines."
Sheringham made over 400 Premier League appearances, scoring 146 goals and registering 76 assists, during his time playing for the likes of Man United, Tottenham and West Ham.
In the interview, the former forward was asked who he would have preferred to play alongside, if both Ronaldo and Kane were at their peak.
"Tough one but Harry Kane," he admitted. "I just think he does things for the team. He works for the team.
"I know he scores his goals and he's very selfish at times but you have to be like that as a centre forward but you know what you're going to get from him, week in, week out. He leads the line for the team as well. He's unselfish but selfish at the right times and that's why he scores so many goals.
"Ronaldo has been one of the best two players but playing alongside him, it's a funny one... he scores goals out of nowhere because of how good he is but doesn't really play off other people. Might be a little bit harsh but I prefer the knowing what you're going to get from a player when you're asking who I would like to play alongside."
For now, both Kane and Antonio Conte will want to get the England captain back to top form, where he is both scoring and creating goals - to help Spurs continue their battle for a top-four place.
