Tottenham Hotspur are set to see a major boost in their upcoming clashes with Liverpool and Crystal Palace, as a number of first-team stars jet off to Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations
Tottenham Hotspur head into clashes against Liverpool and Crystal Palace with a major boost, considering both teams will be missing a major player, respectively, due to AFCON commitments.
The Lilywhites are set to face Liverpool on home turf on Saturday, December 20, with Arne Slot travelling to the capital without one of the Reds' most prolific talismans in Mohamed Salah. The 33-year-old recently made his way to Morocco to link up with his Egyptian national team-mates and will be out of Premier League action until the new year as a result.
Despite the forward recently finding himself benched by Slot, Salah proved his worth during Liverpool's most recent outing against Brighton and Hove Albion at the weekend. Replacing Joe Gomez midway through the first half, Salah rolled back the years on the right-hand side, setting up Hugo Ekitike for his second goal in the 2-0 win.
His absence this weekend will come as positive news for Djed Spence, who will not have to worry about coming up against the 'Egyptian King' against Liverpool, instead, likely battling Dominik Szoboszlai, who has shown adaptability by featuring on the right flank this season.
Thomas Frank will also feel slightly more at ease when he comes up against the defending Premier League champions, given Salah's track record against the manager's tactics at Brentford. In six of the last eight matches between Liverpool and Brentford which Frank was at the helm for, Salah found the back of the net a staggering six times.
Elsewhere, Spurs will not have to worry about tracking Ismaila Sarr when they make the short trip to Selhurst Park next Sunday (December 28). The attacking midfielder has also recently jetted off to AFCON to team up with the Senegalese national side, and will miss the fixture as a result.
However, the Lilywhites will also lose two players to AFCON this month in Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr. Bissouma hasn't featured for his club this season as a result of a knee injury, but has been called up by Mali for the tournament.
Pape Matar, meanwhile, will link up with Ismaila with Senegal - a team which have a great track record at the tournament. Senegal won AFCON for the first time back in 2022, thanks to a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Egypt and will hope to see further success when the new instalment comes to a close on January 18.
It's been a topsy-turvy season for Spurs in 2025/26 so far, with the Lilywhites currently sitting 11th in the Premier League standings. Under Frank's stewardship, the club have achieved six wins, as many losses and four draws as the halfway mark fast approaches.
Spurs also occupy the same position in the Champions League as a result of three wins, one loss and two draws, qualifying as a result of winning the Europa League title back in May, having finished 17th in the Premier League for 2024/25 under Ange Postecoglou.
As a result of little progress made in the league, Frank currently sees his future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cast into speculation, with the Dane speaking about issues after Sunday's 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
He explained: "It's very simple. If you don't perform, you can say all the right things, if you're a little bit out of sync, then you see things like this.
"When you are on track and in sync, you see the last three performances. That's very simple. If you perform, you keep doing the right thing, then it makes it easier of course and then I just think the little small thing that is difficult.
"We win together, we lose together, but I can't pass the ball on the pitch. So, if we lose the ball 25 times, I think it's fair to say that it's pretty difficult to create something."
When asked whether he believes he will be afforded time to successfully implement his style of play, he added: "I can't see why not. I think it's pretty evident that if no-one gets the time, no-one can turn this around. This is not a quick fix."