EPL

Lloris commits to new Tottenham contract

By Sports Desk January 21, 2022

Hugo Lloris has committed to Antonio Conte's Tottenham project by signing a new two-and-a-half-year contract with the Premier League club.

Lloris, 35, had entered the final six months of his previous deal and was entitled to discuss an end-of-season free transfer with foreign clubs.

He was linked with his boyhood club Nice, where he came through the academy before spending three years in the first team, but will be staying in north London.

Tottenham confirmed the deal that will take Lloris past 10 years with the club, with the goalkeeper set to remain at Spurs until the end of the 2023-24 season.

The news is a huge boost for Conte, who took on the Tottenham top job in November and made it clear he saw Lloris as part of the team's future.

Conte had been optimistic a deal would be agreed, recently expressing optimism Lloris would sign "because he loves Tottenham and Tottenham loves him".

Now that has come to fruition, meaning Tottenham need no immediate strengthening in the goalkeeping department, that boxed ticked by this move.

Lloris joined Spurs from Lyon in August 2012 and helped the team reach the 2019 Champions League final under Mauricio Pochettino.

He became Tottenham captain in 2015 and has worn the armband for his country since 2012, leading Les Bleus to World Cup glory in 2018.

Since skippering France to that triumph in Russia, Lloris has underlined his status as one of Europe's premier goalkeepers.

From August 2018 to the present day, Lloris can be shown to have prevented 21.3 goals. That is based on a calculation starting with Tottenham's expected goals on target (xGOT) conceded total of 180.3 and deducting the actual number of goals, other than own goals, that they have shipped during that time (159).

Only four goalkeepers from Europe's top leagues have a better goal prevention record in this same three-and-a-half-season period, Opta data shows. Those are: Thibaut Courtois of Real Madrid (25.3), Liverpool's Alisson (22.9), Sevilla's Yassine Bounou (21.6), and Atletico Madrid mainstay Jan Oblak (21.6).

Tottenham made a poor start to the season under Nuno Espirito Santo but have been revitalised in the Premier League by Conte's arrival. They have kept five clean sheets in nine games in the competition since the former Inter and Chelsea boss arrived and have soared to fifth place, with games in hand on those ahead of them.

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    Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham's youngsters will have learned a lot from their 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursday. 

    Yunus Akgun's stunning opener was cancelled out by 19-year-old Will Lankshear's first senior goal for Spurs, before Victor Osimhen's brace put the hosts in control at the break. 

    Lankshear, however, would be sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour-mark, though Spurs did reduce the deficit through Dominic Solanke with a man less. 

    Postecoglou named several inexperienced European players in his starting line-up, with 18-year-old's Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall also starting at Rams Park. 

    But the Spurs boss believes that his younger players will learn from the experience against Okan Buruk's side. 

    "Look, Will took his goal well, he worked hard for the team. Obviously, he hasn't had a lot of experience in senior football, so he would have learnt a lot today," Postecoglou said.

    "The red card, it was a bit of overenthusiasm at that moment to give away a foul, but he'll learn from that. The same with Lucas. Giving him an understanding of the levels here.

    "It is not easy when you are playing away in Europe. You can only allow them to learn that by exposing them to it.

    "I thought Archie was great. It was a tough game for us defensively at different times, but I think we'll get so much growth out of him because he's not playing in his position.

    "I guess for three teenagers in the starting line-up, I think they'll learn a lot from it, and hopefully it helps with their development."

    At 19-years-old and 201 days, Lankshear is now Tottenham’s youngest goalscorer in major European competition since Harry Kane (18-years-old and 140 days) netted against Shamrock Rovers in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League.

    However, he became the third-youngest player to both score and be sent off in a Europa League game after Aleksandar Mitrovic for Partizan Belgrade in November 2012 (18-years-old and 67 days) and Federico Chiesa for Fiorentina in December 2016 (19-years-old and 44 days).

    Despite the score-ine, Spurs were comfortably second-best against Galatasaray as they suffered their first defeat in the competition this season. 

    They faced 28 shots from their opponents, their most in a game under Postecoglou. 

    It is the most efforts faced by an English team in a Europa League group stage match since Everton faced 39 shots against Wolfsburg in November 2014.  

    And Postecoglou believes his side only had themselves to blame for the defeat, citing a number of mistakes as their undoing in Turkey. 

    "I just felt it was self-inflicted. We had real simple solutions out there to keep the ball. It wasn't that hard. We showed it with 10 men," Postecoglou added.

    "We just needed to be stronger on the ball and play the kind of football we play every week.

    "Maybe it was a little bit the changes I made and the environment and atmosphere, but the moments that stick out to me was giving the ball away.

    "We were playing through them quite easily with 10 men but with 11 men we had nowhere near that conviction and that was disappointing."

  • Galatasaray 3-2 Tottenham: Osimhen brace downs 10-man visitors Galatasaray 3-2 Tottenham: Osimhen brace downs 10-man visitors

    Victor Osimhen's first-half brace sent Galatasaray top of the Europa League table after they edged a five-goal thriller against 10-man Tottenham. 

    The defeat marked Spurs' first of their European campaign, and they could drop out of the top eight should results go against them later on Thursday. 

    Galatasaray took the lead with six minutes on the clock in stunning fashion. Archie Gray's headed clearance was collected by Yunus Akgun, who rifled a left-footed effort into the top corner. 

    But Spurs drew level through a surprise inclusion in their starting line-up as Will Lankshear notched his first senior goal with a simple finish from Brennan Johnson's cross.

    However, after seeing an effort ruled out a minute earlier for offside, Osimhen put the hosts back in front, prodding the ball home after sloppy play from Radu Dragusin. 

    Osimhen then doubled his tally six minutes before half-time, combining again with Dries Mertens, this time planting the Belgian's teasing delivery beyond Fraser Forster. 

    It went from bad to worse for Ange Postecoglou's side on the hour-mark when Lankshear was shown a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge on Gabriel Sara. 

    Hopes of a Spurs comeback were revived in the 69th minute when substitute Dominic Solanke neatly flicked Pedro Porro's cross into the net, but Galatasaray held on for the win. 

    Data Debrief: Turkish delight

    While the score-line suggests a tightly contested affair at Rams Park, Galatasaray were worthy winners against Tottenham. 

    Okan Buruk's side registered 28 shots compared to Tottenham's five, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.28 to their opponents' 1.87. 

    But having ended the night on a sour note, Tottenham's Lankshear followed in the footsteps of a former Spurs great. 

    At 19 years and 201 days, he became Tottenham's youngest goalscorer in a major European since Harry Kane (18 years and 140 days) scored against Shamrock Rovers in the 2011-12 Europa League.

  • The Numbers Game: Can Chelsea dent title hopes of misfiring Gunners? The Numbers Game: Can Chelsea dent title hopes of misfiring Gunners?

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    Last week's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United made it just seven points from five games, and they now trail leaders Liverpool by seven points.

    Injuries and suspensions have taken their toll on Arteta's men, and things do not get much easier for them on Sunday, against a Chelsea team currently above them on goal difference.

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    We delve into the Opta data to preview Sunday's headline fixture at Stamford Bridge.

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    Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 41.2%, giving them a slight edge over their hosts, who are a 33.2% shot.

    The likelihood of a draw is rated at 25.6%, but you sense Arsenal need to take all three points after seeing their hopes of winning the title drop to 4.4% in Opta's season predictions. Chelsea's own hopes are rated at 0.3%, with City (61.9%) still clear favourites ahead of Liverpool (33.4%).

     

    Chelsea have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Arsenal (two draws, six defeats), a 2-0 away win in August 2021. The Gunners have managed three victories in their last four league trips to Stamford Bridge (one draw) – as many victories as they recorded in their previous 20 visits (seven draws, 10 defeats).

    Arsenal have also won their last six Premier League London derby matches by an aggregate score of 22-3, winning six of those matches by five or more goals.

    One such occasion was a 5-0 rout of Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium last April, their biggest-ever margin of victory against the Blues in all competitions.

    Blues eye statement victory

    When the Premier League fixture list was drawn up, even the most optimistic Chelsea fan may have struggled to visualise the Blues sitting ahead of Arsenal in the table after 10 games.

    But Maresca's side have shown promising signs in the early stages of his tenure. Chelsea's last two Premier League defeats this season have come against last season's top three teams – 0-5 versus Arsenal in April, 0-2 versus City in August and 1-2 against Liverpool in October.

    They are unbeaten in their last 21 matches against all other teams, winning 14 and drawing seven while scoring 57 goals in total across those games.

    The future looks bright for Chelsea, who fielded a starting lineup with an average age of 23 years and 96 days at Old Trafford last week – their youngest-ever XI for a Premier League match against Manchester United.

    However, they are still waiting on a first statement win under Maresca, and getting one over on the Gunners would earn him plenty of goodwill among the fans.

    Their chances could be decided by the fitness of Cole Palmer, who is an injury doubt after suffering a knock against United.

     

    He opened the scoring when the Blues last welcomed Arsenal to west London for a 2-2 draw last October, scoring his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.

    Since then, he has more home goals in the competition than any other player (21), also leading the way for goal involvements (12 – seven goals, five assists, alongside Mohamed Salah) and open-play chances created in 2024-25.

    Can fit-again Odegaard get Gunners firing?

    Last season, Arsenal won 42 of their 89 Premier League points on their travels, taking nine points from five matches at the homes of their Big Six rivals. 

    This campaign, however, their failure to hit top form on the road has threatened to end their latest title tilt before it truly got going. 

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    While Arteta has long preached the importance of control, Arsenal have simply not been good enough going forward in those matches. They have attempted just 37 shots on the road in the Premier League this season (7.4 per game), with only Brentford (seven) averaging fewer per away match across the entire division.

     

    The fact Arsenal played significant amounts of time at Manchester City and Bournemouth with a numerical disadvantage likely plays a part, but the fact five teams have attempted at least twice as many shots on the road does not make for good reading (Manchester City 90, Tottenham 83, Crystal Palace 79, Bournemouth 78 and Manchester United 74).

    Martin Odegaard's return to training after two months out with an ankle injury is a major boost, with the Norwegian having led all players in the Premier League for expected assists (11.17 xA) and chances created from open play (88) last season.

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    Arteta will hope Odegaard's return can make the difference, or a title challenge may prove a bridge too far. The last time they lost three successive away Premier League games was in December 2021, and they went on to miss out on a top-four finish that season.

    The Norwegian was a late substitute as they were beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday. They have now lost three of their last six games in all competitions, as many as their previous 32 beforehand.

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Chelsea – Nicolas Jackson 

    Since the start of last season, Chelsea striker Jackson has been involved in more London derby goals than any other player in the Premier League (10 goals, two assists).

    All of his 12 involvements have come in his last nine such appearances, and he already has six Premier League goals this term.

     

    Arsenal – Bukayo Saka 

    Saka has provided more assists than any other player in the Premier League this season (seven). 

    He has also either scored (once) or assisted (twice) a goal in each of his last three away games against Chelsea in the Premier League, with Sergio Aguero (2013 to 2017) and Javier Hernandez (2012 to 2018) the only visiting players to do so in four consecutive appearances.

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