London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur suffered a double injury blow ahead of a key week with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and midfielder Dele Alli ruled out for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool and a Champions League trip to Inter Milan on Tuesday.
France’s World Cup-winning captain Lloris is “expected to be out for several weeks” with a thigh injury according to the club, while manager Mauricio Pochettino is more hopeful Alli could return in time for the trip to Brighton on September 22.
Lloris was on Monday fined £50,000 ($65,000) and handed a 20-month driving ban for drink-driving.
He missed Spurs’ 2-1 defeat at Watford before the international break and France’s Nations League matches against Germany and the Netherlands.
“He is going to do another scan to see how is the evolution of his injury,” Pochettino told Sky Sports.
Alli suffered a slight muscle strain in England’s Nations League defeat to Spain last weekend.
“(We are) disappointed because we are going to miss him for maybe this game and against Inter Milan in Champions League,” said Pochettino. “But the most important thing is it is not a big issue and he will be available as soon as possible.”
Spurs trail Premier League leaders Liverpool by three points but could move top for a few hours at least with victory at Wembley.
A trip to Italy follows just three days later with Pochettino’s men facing a tough task to qualify from a group also containing Barcelona and Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven.
