Son Heung-min will compete in the Asia Cup, which runs from January 12 to February 10, while Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr will compete in the Africa Cup of Nations, causing manager Ange Postecoglou yet another headache.
Son returned to form over the weekend, scoring once and assisting twice as Spurs defeated Newcastle United 4-1, snapping a five-game losing streak. Only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland have more goals in the league than the South Korean.
Tottenham are also bracing for the absence of influential midfielders Bissouma and Sarr, who are scheduled to miss the AFCON from January 13 to February 11. If Mali, Senegal, and South Korea advance to the AFCON and Asia Cup finals, Bissouma, Sarr, and Son will miss the FA Cup third and fourth rounds on January 6-7 and 27-28, respectively, as well as league games against Manchester United, Brentford, Everton, and Brighton.
According to FIFA rules, clubs must release players two weeks before major tournaments. The absences of Bissouma and Sarr, combined with those of Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison, leave manager Ange Postecoglou with only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, and Giovani Lo Celso.
Postecoglou, who admitted losing players wasn’t ideal, is likely to face a litmus test in January. “In this league, if you’re missing one or two key players, you’re going to struggle,” he told reporters after their weekend victory.
“You mentioned James and Micky, but you left out Bentancur, how important Perisic was, and how when we won those late games, he was the one providing, as well as Manor Solomon.” I could keep going. It sounds like excuses, but that is the reality of the Premier League, and it doesn’t take much analysis to see why we haven’t been as conclusive in our results in recent weeks as we were earlier in the season.”
Tottenham will travel to Nottingham Forest on Friday night hoping to inflict more misery on Steve Cooper’s side, who were held to a draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers the previous weekend.
Leave a Comment