Hugo Lloris is an injury doubt for Tottenham ahead of Sunday afternoon’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea. The 33-year-old is carrying a knock and Alasdair Gold of Football.London said he will require a late fitness test before a decision is made on his availability.
What has Hugo done?
Lloris played a full 90 minutes in our 2-0 win over Manchester City (November 21) but picked up a knock in the week that kept him out of our Europa League win over FC Ludogorets (November 26). Despite the minor injury, the French international was expected to start against Chelsea as he had enough days to recover, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be 100%.
Lloris has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, amassing 1080 minutes of playing time. He’s conceded 12 goals in those 12 games and kept three clean sheets. The 33-year-old has been a regular in the Premier League but was continually rested in Europe. Lloris didn’t even make the bench in midweek, so we’ll be taking a calculated risk.
Who could replace him?
Joe Hart joined on a free transfer from Burnley and has gone on to make five appearances across the board. He’s now Lloris’ No.2 over Paulo Gazzaniga and should start in the Frenchman’s stead. But if Lloris is deemed fit enough to face Chelsea, Hart will obviously be named on the bench. Time will tell.
Our defensive record in the Premier League has been outstanding in the last few weeks. We’ve conceded only one goal from our last four games and have gone 214 minutes in the top-flight without conceding ahead of our Chelsea meeting. Lloris is an important player.
Jose Mourinho and Lloris will decide between themselves whether the latter is able to play at Stamford Bridge. When asked if Lloris will be fit to face Chelsea in a pre-match press conference, Mourinho responded: “I want to believe, yes. We could push, but we didn’t want to risk. If I wanted to push, if I wanted to risk a little, they would do it.”