MILAN: Tottenham Hotspur will be without five players for their Champions League opener at Inter Milan, with Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, and Moussa Sissoko injured plus Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier left at home for technical reasons.
Goalkeeper and captain Lloris has a thigh injury while midfielders Alli and Sissoko have hamstring problems that saw them miss Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League home loss to Liverpool.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters on Monday that defenders Alderweireld and Trippier had also stayed behind in London and added that he was being forced to rest players early in the season because of the World Cup.
“We still have out Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli, and Moussa Sissoko. They are in London,” Pochettino said. “Then a technical decision in London – Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier.”
The absence of Alli and especially Lloris against Liverpool had a discernable impact, with errors from stand-in keeper Michel Vorm contributing to both Liverpool goals.
Alli’s teammate Harry Kane said after the match that Tottenham had failed to control the game and gave the ball away too many times en route to a second successive domestic defeat.
