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Hugo Lloris: Winning Will Boost Tottenham’s Confidence

By Alexander Balano

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates his sides win after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at White Hart Lane on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates his sides win after the final whistle during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at White Hart Lane on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images) /
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Tottenham are firing on all cylinders and getting a statement win over Manchester City can only boost their confidence to a higher level.

Any win in the Premier League, or any competition for that matter, will always be a big boost for a team’s confidence. But even more so when it happens to be against the league leaders who used to be undefeated at the time.

Tottenham came into Sunday’s fixture as the only other remaining unbeaten team aside from Manchester City. It was a match-up that featured first versus third (previously Spurs were second but Liverpool leapfrogged over them on Saturday).

Each match in the Premiership is unpredictable and difficult to win, however if any team has title aspirations, winning against the best of the best is a must in order for them to be taken seriously.

A 2-0 win where Spurs were the dominate side against a Pep Guardiola-coached team has to be considered a legitimate contender this early in the season.

And for Hugo Lloris, the team captain knows that any win will be a big confidence booster. Especially beating one of the Premier League’s Big Five no matter how many times it happens.

“It’s a bit like last season. The game was in a similar period [when Spurs beat Man City 4-1 at home in September last season] and was maybe the real start of the season,” Lloris said on Spurs’ official website about the importance of beating elite clubs like Man City.

“It’s true that we had a good result against Liverpool [1-1 draw on August 27th] but this win means a lot. It rewards our effort from the start of the season and gives us a lot of energy and confidence for the following weeks.”

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Spurs for the past five games have gone unbeaten dating back to their 1-0 win over Sunderland on September 18th.

Their current form has been at an all-time high ever since their first loss of the season in the Champions League.

Losing at home at Wembley Stadium in front of a record sellout crowd of over 85,000 was a shocker for Mauricio Pochettino and company after beating AS Monaco 4-1 at White Hart Lane last season in the Europa League.

Perhaps losing to Monaco flipped a switch in everyone’s head because Tottenham have found their groove.

They’ve dominated their opponents whether they’re out-shooting them or high-pressing them into submission. Sometimes both of these things happen in the same match.

At the same time, Spurs aren’t about their offensive output to put defenses on their toes with a plethora of scoring chances. Tottenham have been known for their defense since last season after signing Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose and Kyle Walker’s impressive season.

Adding Victor Wanyama this past summer — on top of what Spurs have currently — takes an already good-to-great defense to another level.

They’re able to see games out when they have a lead. A year ago, some teams managed to find a way to draw level costing Tottenham three crucial points. This time around, that hasn’t been the case which Hugo Lloris explains a bit more in detail.

“It was like in Moscow – we were very professional and that’s the difference between last season. I’ve said already that we will get more mature but it’s just the beginning of the season and we need to keep our feet on the floor.”

Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: Home vs Manchester City

With a clean sheet over Manchester City yesterday, how good is Tottenham’s defense this year compared to last season in the Premier League? All three goals have come from set pieces and none from open play after seven games. This shows how defensively solid Spurs are once again. Lloris sums it up as a total team effort.

“Yes, but that’s team work,” the Frenchman said as to why Tottenham are currently unbeaten in the Premier League. “We are all involved in the offensive work and the defensive side, and I think we’re all enjoying clean sheets, all enjoying scoring goals and all enjoying wins like this.”