Tottenham Hotspur will be without midfielder Dele Alli and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris when they face Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday.
“He [Alli] suffered a small injury after 20 minutes of the game against Spain at Wembley,” Pochettino said. “I am disappointed because we are going to miss him for this game and maybe the Champions League game against Inter Milan [on Sept. 18].”
Alli withdrew from the England squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Switzerland after suffering a strain during the 2-1 loss to Spain on Saturday.
But Spurs can call on Son Heung-Min, who left for the Asian Games after the opening Premier League fixture at Newcastle and won a gold medal that has exempted him from military service in South Korea. He had not been allowed to play in the tournament by his old club Bayer Leverkusen four years ago.
“First of all I want to congratulate him, because it’s such an important victory to avoid the military service,” Pochettino said. “Then [I want] to congratulate the club because the club has protected a big asset.
“I told him today: ‘Where is my present, Sonny? I want a watch or some Korean food.’ Because when we see in the past that different clubs didn’t allow [him] to go to play in this tournament, who took the risk? I did.
“Rather than congratulate him and the club, people need to congratulate me and say thank you because I allowed him to go there and put his individual situation in front of the collective.”
Harry Winks is closing in on a first start since February, having been sidelined by an ankle injury last season and undergone surgery in the summer.
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