Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier Left off Squad vs. Inter

Tottenham Hotspur defenders Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier have been omitted from the squad for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League opener against Inter Milan, while Dele Alli and Hugo Lloris are still out of action.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino appeared in front of the media on Monday and confirmed Lloris and Alli have remained in London, though he specified Alderweireld and Trippier's absences were "technical decisions":

"We still have out Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli and Moussa Sissoko. They are in London. They are on the list with players like Foyth and Nkoudou. Then a technical decision in London - Toby Alderweireld and Kieran Trippier.

"It’s a technical decision. You can look it up in the dictionary. Tactical? That is on the pitch, although guess you could say this is tactical off of the pitch."

Spurs need every resource they can get their hands on right now after losing their last two games in succession to Watford and Liverpool, the latter defeat coming at Wembley Stadium on Saturday morning.

The Times' Oliver Kay made sure to emphasise that neither Alderweireld nor Trippier were suffering from any injury concerns:

Lloris missed both losses to Watford and Liverpool due to a thigh injury, during which time Michel Vorm has deputised in his absence, while Saturday's disappointing result against Liverpool was Alli's first absence this term.

Alderweireld and Trippier, meanwhile, both failed to feature in the season-opening win over Newcastle United but have played all four matches since, making their omission that much more of a surprise.

BBC London Sport pundit Sam Parkin reacted to Monday's squad news with surprise and pondered whether Tottenham could take much more of a beating after they failed to sign any new players in the summer:

There was no comment from Pochettino on what the "technical reason" was behind Alderweireld and Trippier failing to make the cut, though following back-to-back defeats, one might bet it isn't positive.

That being said, a reporter asked Pochettino if the decision was made in reaction to Saturday's result, and he replied: "No, no you are clever enough to understand that this is my fifth season and I never punish players. The plan is to leave them there and use different players tomorrow. There's nothing in behind it. Only that we're playing with different players."

Lloris, who won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France this summer, was recently charged with drink driving, per BBC News. Spurs' No. 1 is a particularly difficult figure to replace, and blogger Chris Miller commented on how Vorm just doesn't match up after he had a hand in gifting Liverpool their opener on Saturday:

Trippier will be difficult to replace also, though it does offer Serge Aurier an opportunity to impress at right-back. Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen look to be the only fit central defenders with Alderweireld and Juan Foyth out of action, though Eric Dier can also play at the back.

Inter also have Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven to contest with in Group B, but they'll fancy their chances a lot more against a Spurs lineup missing four of its biggest stars come Tuesday.