Hugo Lloris will return between the sticks for Tottenham Hotspur when they welcome Middlesbrough to White Hart Lane later today. The former Lyon netminder missed Tuesday’s trip to the Stadium of Light due to illness. Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that Lloris trained on Thursday and Friday and is completely fit again.
However, Mauricio Pochettino still has a selection dilemma ahead, especially in defence. Left-back Danny Rose picked up a knee injury during the first half against the Black Cats and had a scan on Thursday. The club will be sweating on the results which will be available on Monday, as any damage to the medial ligament could translate to four weeks out of action.
Ben Davies is expected to take over the slot from the 26-year-old.
Moving to the heart of defence, Jan Vertonghen is still shackled with an ankle ligament injury but is recovering swiftly. Despite by a trade being a holding midfielder, Eric Dier has been occupying the centre-back position with equal panache as the Belgian, thus he will be getting the nod once again.
Other players still requiring medical attentions are Kieran Tripper, Erik Lamela and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou. The former two are affected by hip injuries while a knee injury has kept Nkoudou on the sidelines. The trio does not seem like a big blot but with the north London club competing in three competitions, squad depth is certainly crucial to avoid burnout and stick with the manager’s blueprint.
Spurs were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw against Sunderland in midweek and missed the chance to close the gap between table-toppers Chelsea, who returned with a point from Anfield. There were plenty of graft yet Spurs lacked their usual guile to convert decent chances in the second half.
Boro are 3 points off the relegation zone and will surely fancy their chances to take something back home. They too only salvaged a point in midweek against West Brom. Aitor Karanka will count on Alvaro Negredo’s finishing prowess and Adam Traore’s burst of pace to trouble Tottenham’s mishmash backline.
The visitors could offer a debut to Algeria international midfielder Adlene Guedioura, who joined from Watford on transfer deadline day. In term of injuries, George Friend and Gaston Ramirez are still unavailable but Arsenal loanee Calum Chambers may return from a foot injury.
Despite missing several key defensive players, it’s hard to see Boro nabbing a victory. They might employ a deep defensive tactic to frustrate the home side and hit them on the counter-attack, led by Traore. However, Spurs’ impressive firepower will be just too much to handle for Karanka’s men.
A week later, the Lilywhites will travel to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
