The biggest match of the Premier League weekend will be missing some star power as Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino ruled out a couple of his first team stars at his prematch news conference today. One was to be expected, but the other is a complete shock.
As expected, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will miss the headliner fixture at Wembley Stadium against the Reds due to a thigh injury, but he’ll be out longer than many, if not most, expected. The other absentee is midfielder Dele Alli, who England manager Gareth Southgate had previously said would be fine for this match.
“He (Alli) suffered a small injury after 20 minutes of the game against Spain at Wembley,” Pochettino said on Thursday.
“I am disappointed because we are going to miss him for this game and maybe the Champions League game against Inter Milan (on Sept. 18).”
Alli suffered a hamstring injury this past Saturday night in England’s match against Spain, and withdrew from the game against Switzerland on Tuesday. Lloris, who plead guilty to charges of drunk driving yesterday and received a driving ban and hefty fine, is also out for this match.
Pochettino said that Lloris is out for several weeks, due to a thigh injury. However, the Frenchman will remain team captain in spite of his legal troubles, and the very serious transgression he committed.
TEAM NEWS:
? @dele_official (hamstring) unavailable this weekend.
? Hugo Lloris (thigh) unavailable and expected to be out for several weeks.
? @JuanMFoyth (thigh) returned to training last week.
? @MoussaSissoko (hamstring) expected to return to training next week. pic.twitter.com/zUBDxf7hZe
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 13, 2018
“He’s the first that regrets everything, and all that happened yesterday is not good Of course, he doesn’t feel great. He said he was guilty of this situation,” Pochettino added.
“But I think everyone can make a mistake. He made a mistake and he’s suffered the punishment of society.”
Injury Report/Match Preview: go to this link
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction/Team News: go to this link
Tottenham Starting XI Prediction/Team News: go to this link
Kick-off: 12.30pm (BST), Saturday 15 Sept
Odds via Betway: Tottenham 15/8, Draw 5/2, Liverpool 6/4
Prediction: Liverpool FC 2, Tottenham 0
Feel free to post your own Reds and/or Spurs starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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