A special game. For Hugo Lloris, the shock against England tomorrow in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup will be special. The doorman and captain of the Blues should honor his 143rd selection and therefore beat the record established until then by a certain Lilian Thuram. A pride for the former goalkeeper of Nice and Olympique Lyonnais who has become essential in the national team in the eyes of Didier Deschamps. The ultimate bulwark of the Habs will also live a great moment against the Three Lions, he who has been playing in England for ten years now.
Indeed, the Frenchman has been wearing the Tottenham jersey since 2012. A club where he had a difficult start, due to competition, before settling in the starting XI. Respected at Spurs, Hugo Lloris is expected at the turn tomorrow night. The British press has also widely discussed his case this Friday. And the English media are not kind to him. the Telegraph has also titled about it: “Why Lloris could be France’s Achilles heel”before adding: “It’s Hugo Lloris versus Jordan Pickford and there’s only one winner. In many ways, Jordan Pickford has been the better goalkeeper than Hugo Lloris this season – especially when it comes to penalties..
The English believe he is worse than Pickford
“Pickford have won two of their three penalty shootouts with England. Even during the penalty shootout lost by England against Italy (in the final of the Euro), he behaved well by repelling two attempts. Lloris, on the other hand, lost the only penalty shootout he had with France. It was against Switzerland, in the round of 16 of the Euro”, recalls the English publication. It is true that the tricolor doorman has never really shone in this exercise, let’s be honest. But the Telegraph believes that Pickford is much better in other areas.
“At 35, Lloris is the most experienced and titled goalkeeper. But analysis of their respective performances this season shows that, in many key areas, it is Pickford who have the advantage over the French No.1. In this most fundamental aspect of goalkeeping performance, Pickford have clearly outperformed Lloris so far this season. The English media continues: “according to data from Goalkeeper-XG, a goalkeeper-specific analytics company within the Goalkeeper.com group, Pickford prevented 5.14 goals more than expected based on the shots he faced for Everton in the Premier League this season. Lloris, on the other hand, conceded 0.71 more than expected..
His knowledge of Kane worries
For the English media, Lloris is a weak point for the Blues. “Both players are known for making mistakes in the Premier League, but this year Lloris has been the less reliable of the two. His unnecessary mistake against Arsenal, when he dropped the ball at the feet of Gabriel Jesus, was one of the most publicized mistakes of the domestic campaign so far. It came with the scores level at 1-1 and proved to be a turning point in the North London derby in October, which Arsenal won 3-1”.
Other British newspapers mention the case of the Frenchy. ‘Hugo Lloris has seen it all and commands great respect from his French team-mates…but mistakes creep into his game and he gets caught out by the modern style of pressing’Write the Daily Mail. Despite everything, the English media praises his intelligence and his liveliness, while considering that his perfect knowledge of the Three Lions striker, Harry Kane, is an advantage. Certainly one of the reasons why the English press is putting pressure on him before tomorrow’s clash.
