Postecoglou facing January crisis after Bentancur blow

TOTTENHAM head coach Ange Postecoglou is facing a midfield selection crisis in January, when Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr are at the Africa Cup of Nations, after Rodrigo Bentancur was ruled out for 10 weeks with torn ankle ligaments.

- Dan Kilpatrick

Bentancur was forced off on his first club start in nine months during Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa and is expected to be out until mid-February.

It is an enormous blow for the Uruguayan and further depletes Postecoglou's options for the foreseeable future, with the Australian set to be without 10 senior players for Sunday's visit to champions Manchester City.

January is likely to be a particular headache for Spurs, with Bissouma (right, top) and Sarr both set to compete in the AFCON and captain Heung-min Son to play in the Asia Cup with South Korea.