Spurs have a "monster" who's just shown showed why he's their new Dembele

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Tottenham Hotspur showed why, under Ange Postecoglou, that at their best they are a force to be reckoned with on Sunday afternoon.

Spurs have flattered to deceive at points this term, notably losing to a winless Crystal Palace a week ago, but since then have shown why teams should be scared of them, beating Manchester City in the cup and then smacking four past Aston Villa in a 4-1 victory.

No team in the Premier League up to this point have scored more than their 22 goals. They are full of life and can outscore pretty much any team they face.

Dominic Solanke - who scored twice at the weekend - will no doubt take the plaudits but another face was just as good, if not better, than the striker. It was a display that had shades of a certain Mousa Dembele.

Why Mousa Dembele was so loved at Spurs

"Dembele was probably the best player I’ve ever seen play football," remarked Kyle Walker many moons ago. He was "a freak of nature” in the words of Eric Dier.

Gain such fine praise from your pears and it's hardly a surprise that he was so loved at White Hart Lane.

Dembele had the poise and grace of the finest footballers in the game but he combined that with a steely physical nature. In essence, he had it all. He could score goals, he could tackle ruthlessly and he could pick a pass.

One of his finest campaigns on English shores came in 2015/16 and to give credence to the claims we've just offered, he was involved in four goals, registered 2.9 successful dribbles per game and won 3.6 tackles per match. Yeah, he was everywhere, he did it all.

So, when the Belgian decided to leave for China in 2019, it was a sad day for Spurs supporters. Arguably since that day, they have struggled to find a player with similar qualities. That's perhaps until the win over Aston Villa.

Tottenham's new Mousa Dembele

There were a number of key performers in that win over Unai Emery's team on Sunday, not least Solanke who was the scorer of two goals.

However, Pape Matar Sarr deserves an equal amount of praise for a display that Football.London felt obliged to hand a 9/10 rating.

In the words of GOAL's Mitch Fretton, the Senegalese was a "monster" in the middle of the park and although he perhaps didn't show the same level of drive with the ball, failing to attempt a single dribble, he was very much Dembele-esque in a lot of the work he got through.

In the process of winning three duels, completing a supremely impressive 92% of his passes and boasting more touches (80) than anyone on the field, his finest action came when helping Spurs score their third goal of the game.

If the fact he had more touches than anyone else didn't give you Dembele vibes then the way he broke up the play for Solanke's second of the day should.

Sarr pounced on Pau Torres' loose ball before darting forward with his great lengthy strides and sending it through to Richarlison who laid it on a plate for the £65m signing to score from. It was one of two interceptions from the young 22-year-old who should now be one of the first names on the teamsheet.

He drives his team forward, breaks up the play brilliantly and covers so much ground for his team. All of a sudden he is vital to the way Postecoglou wants his team to play.