View: Hojbjerg fails to prove he can step into Bissouma role for Tottenham on Denmark duty
Yves Bissouma will not be available for Tottenham when the Premier League returns following the international break, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg likely to step in.
After being sent off against Luton Town last time out following two yellow card offences, Bissouma will miss Spurs’ home match against Fulham on Monday 23 October as he serves his one-match suspension.
The Mali international has so far started every league game this season and will likely be replaced by Hojbjerg, who is yet to start in the league so far under Ange Postecoglou.
Prior to this season, Hojbjerg was a regular in Tottenham’s midfield since his switch from Southampton in 2020, and supporters are therefore well aware of his qualities. However, he has limited experience playing in Postecoglou’s system and will need to adapt quickly if Spurs want to continue their unbeaten league start against Fulham.
And his recent performance for Denmark while on international duty will not fill fans with much confidence that he can effectively do this.
Hojbjerg started and completed the full 90 minutes for his country during their 3-1 European Championship qualifying victory over Kazakhstan on Saturday (14 October). Nonetheless, despite featuring on the winning side, the stats don’t make for positive reading, especially when taking into consideration the inferior opposition
As per Sofascore, while Hojbjerg did complete two key passes and the one dribble he attempted during the match, his passing accuracy of 89 per cent will be a cause for concern as it is slightly lower than Bissouma’s passing accuracy of 91.6 per cent across the season (Wyscout).
Bissouma has also averaged 4.74 dribbles per 90 this season, completing 56.52 per cent of these dribbles, which is superior to Hojbjerg’s one against Kazakhstan.
In addition, Hojbjerg also won just three of his seven ground duels and gave possession away 13 times while also being dribbled past on two separate occasions.
His ability to break up play throughout the match was also a concern, as he made no interceptions, an area where Bissouma excels, making 4.43 interceptions per 90 throughout his 10 appearances so far this season.
There is no doubt that Bissouma will be a big miss against Fulham and Hojbjerg will need to show much more than he did against Kazakhstan if he wants to make any case of earning a starting place under Postecoglou.
In other Tottenham news, one other Spurs star used his international opportunity to showcase his impressive skillset.