Skipper: Hugo Lloris
(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris says Sunday’s derby against Chelsea is an opportunity to judge the team’s progress after playing down the significance of their 4-1 win over Southampton.
Spurs increased optimism around the club with an impressive opening-day thrashing of Saints without any of their six summer signings in Antonio Conte’s starting XI. Spurs were soundly beaten four times by Chelsea last season, including three defeats in January, the first of which led a furious Conte to describe the quality of his squad as “in the middle”.
They dramatically improved in the second half of last season and the head coach said in March he would like the opportunity to face Chelsea again to gauge their progress. The Blues began the campaign with a scrappy 1-0 win at Everton following a turbulent six months, and the meeting at Stamford Bridge promises to be an intriguing gauge of both clubs’ prospects.
“Obviously when you face that kind of opponent it’s a good moment to judge yourself,” Lloris, the Spurs goalkeeper, told Standard Sport.
“After two games, whatever the result [next weekend] there will be plenty of games ahead of us but it’s more that we can confirm the good result and performance [against Southampton] and show improvement compared to last season.
“Chelsea is a very strong team, very competitive, they will probably be a contender for the title and it’s good for us to go there and challenge them.”
Spurs picked up where they left off last season in a full-throttle attacking display on Saturday, with goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, a Mohammed Salisu own goal and Dejan Kulusevski earning a comeback win after James Ward-Prowse gave Saints a surprise lead.
Asked if Spurs were going into this season with a different mentality, Lloris said: "It would be easy to say [that] after a win like that but we keep our feet on the floor. It was just the start.
"With the eight previous months [under Conte] and also the pre-season it gives us a strong structure and the basics. We know each other well and there's also the addition of quality players and international players, so obviously we're going to try to be as competitive as we can.
"There's a big challenge for us next weekend at Stamford Bridge and we'll try in the same way to respect our philosophy and respect the way we want to play, and we want to compete.
"I believe the work we've done the last eight months plus pre-season is giving us on the physical aspect and the tactical aspect a lot of guidance and a reference point.
"And then we need to increase - and this is down to the players - the mental aspect to become even more important competitive and to reduce the gap with the best teams in the country and in the Champions League the best teams in Europe.
"We're going the right way. But again, it's easy to talk right now in front of you. The most important thing is to show it even time we have the possibility, even time we face an opponent."
