?L>F CCFI@J
HUGO LLORIS says Tottenham are ready to fight fire with fire at Manchester City today.
And he reckons Spurs may actually find it EASIER to play their football against the runaway Premier League leaders than they did in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over a Brighton side who parked the bus.
France No.1 Lloris insists Mauricio Pochettino’s men have already proved they can cut it with the best in the business by beating Real Madrid this season.
Now he wants them to do it all over again at the Etihad against a team he admits are massive favourites to win the title.
Lloris said: “Definitely our philosophy is that attacking is the best way to defend and to keep the ball is the best way to defend too.
“City is a team that likes to play. They like to create space but they concede a lot of space too.
“City at the moment is the best team in the Premier League so it is going to be a good test for us. They are going to be champions, probably, produce a good performance ourselves. If you see against Brighton how difficult it is when the opponents drop right back and camp in front of the goal. It is difficult to create space and chances to get a goal.
“We are better suited to win this type of game but City are the best team in the Premier League, so we’ll just go and enjoy our game.”
Spurs know all about bringing the opposition back down to earth with a bump. Boss Mauricio Pochettino masterminded the first defeat for Pep Guardiola’s side last season, ending their 11-match unbeaten run.
Then they went on to stop eventual champions Chelsea in their tracks too, ending their 13-match winning streak.
Lloris added: “Is it extra motivation to end their run? I don’t know. But if thinking about that gives us extra motivation then why not?
“We don’t need any extra motivation playing the best in the league because we are all ambitious.
Massive
“We want to be there ourselves and from what we have showed in the Champions League, we can be.
“In the Champions League we have been able to play against the best and we have made some great performances, so we need to replicate that type of performance.”
Lloris believes Spurs made a massive statement as two goals from Dele Alli and another from Christian Erikssen earned them a 3-1 win over Real at Wembley. It saw them win the group stage