Ange Postecoglou must continue to wait as Tottenham duo Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma progress at the AFCON
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou will have to wait a little longer for Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma to return to Hotspur Way.
Both players are currently unavailable for selection as they compete at the African Cup of Nations.
With the group stages of the competition having reached its conclusion, the Round of 16 will now get underway on Saturday 27 January, with both Sarr’s Senegal and Bissouma’s Mali set to take part.
Senegal will take on host nation Ivory Coast for a place in the Quarter Finals on Monday 29 January, while Mali will play Burkina Faso a day later (30 January) for a place in the last eight.
It rules both players out of Spurs’ FA Cup fourth-round clash with Manchester City on Friday 27 January and with the ties to be played early next week, it effectively confirms the players won’t be available for the Premier League meeting with Brentford on Wednesday 31 January.
This means Postecoglou will be forced to live without two of his most important midfielders for at least another two matches, and Bissouma’s performance for Mali in their final group-stage clash will leave the Australian desperate to have him back.
Bissouma started and completed the full 90 minutes of a 0-0 draw with Namibia (24 January), a result which saw Mali top Group E with five points.
As per Sofascore, the Spurs midfielder looked relatively composed, completing 91 per cent of his passes and playing four accurate long balls forward from the six which he attempted.
He looked to impact the game in the final third as he registered two shots off-target and had one shot blocked while also completing 100 per cent of his dribbles. Meanwhile, he was his usual confident self defensively, winning five of his seven ground duels, and 100 per cent of his aerial duels in addition to making five clearances and three tackles.
Bissouma has started 15 of Tottenham’s 20 Premier League games this season, although he hasn’t been seen in Spurs colours since a 2-0 win away at Nottingham Forest on Friday 15 December when he was shown his second red card of the season, which ruled him out for the final four matches before he left for the African Cup of Nations.
Tottenham supporters will be desperate to see him back, just as they will be desperate to see Sarr back, after another positive display for the 21-year-old in Senegal’s final match of the group stages.
Sarr started and played 71 minutes of his nation’s 2-0 win over Guinea (23 January) which confirmed their place as Group C winners with a 100 per cent record.
He completed 80 per cent of his passes, with one of those key, and although he struggled on the ball, registering zero successful dribbles from three attempts, he impressed defensively as he won 100 per cent of his aerial duels, and made three tackles and three interceptions.
Considering how young Sarr is, it was another positive performance on the international stage, and Spurs supporters will be excited to see the player return to North London and continue to develop.
In other Tottenham news, Fabrizio Romano has detailed a “huge” boost for Postecoglou after sharing a January update on an 89% Spurs star.
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