About Building Identity – Tottenham Hotspur’s Pre-season Tour Previewed

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Tottenham Hotspur have just a month to prepare before their Premier League campaign begins on 22nd August, with an away trip to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on the opening day of the season.

Roberto De Zerbi has been handed unprecedented backing this summer, with Spurs shattering their transfer record twice by signing West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes before following it up with the arrival of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United in a deal worth up to £100m.

A new era under Roberto De Zerbi

Last season was one to forget for the Lilywhites, who changed managers three times, from Thomas Frank to Igor Tudor before Roberto De Zerbi ultimately guided the club to Premier League survival on the final day.

A 1-0 home victory over Everton secured a 17th-place finish, while their 2024/25 Europa League triumph earned a place in the Champions League, where their journey ended in the round of 16.

Now preparing for a fresh campaign, De Zerbi’s priority will be to secure European football for Spurs, with a top-four finish the ultimate target after the club last achieved the feat in 2021/22.

A busy summer of arrivals makes pre-season the ideal opportunity to assess his squad, identify the combinations that work best and evaluate fringe players alongside youngsters whose loan futures remain undecided.

In March, De Zerbi had just seven matches to preserve Spurs’ Premier League status, leaving little margin for error. These fixtures, however, offer valuable time to embed the possession-based style that defined his impressive two-year spell at Brighton.

Lessons from last summer

Last July, Tottenham began pre-season with a win over Reading, where new signing Luka Vuskovic announced himself with a goal and an assist in what proved to be his only appearance for the club before his move to Brighton this year.

Draws against Wycombe Wanderers and Luton Town followed before Spurs headed to Asia for what became Son Heung-min’s farewell tour as captain.

A 1-0 victory over Arsenal in Hong Kong and a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in South Korea completed an unbeaten trip.

That unbeaten run, however, came to an emphatic end with a 4-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in Germany, sending Spurs into the UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain on a sour note.

In Udine, the Lilywhites raced into a 2-0 lead through Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, only for the French champions to fight back and eventually win on penalties.

Tottenham’s Australia and New Zealand tour

Now, this summer, Spurs head to the southern hemisphere for a three-match tour of Australia and New Zealand, coming up against two of the A-League’s best teams from last season.

They open against Auckland at Eden Park on 26th July before facing Sydney at Allianz Stadium on 29th July.

Following last year’s first-ever overseas north London derby, Tottenham will again make history on 1st August when they face Chelsea at Accor Stadium in the first meeting between the two clubs to be played on international soil.

With unlimited substitutions allowing managers to field entirely different lineups in each half, De Zerbi is likely to use this summer’s friendlies to determine which players have done enough to earn a starting place against Brentford.

Auckland vs Tottenham Hotspur (26th July at Eden Park, Auckland)

Tottenham will face Auckland at Eden Park, the iconic home of the All Blacks. The 50,000-capacity venue holds twice as many fans as Auckland’s Mount Smart Stadium, providing a fitting stage for the first meeting between the clubs and the biggest match in the hosts’ short history.

Founded in 2024, the Black Knights, captained by former Japan international Hiroki Sakai, finished their inaugural campaign as A-League Premiers before going one better this season by lifting the Championship.

The club also won the inaugural OFC Professional League, securing qualification for this year’s FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the next Club World Cup.

Five Auckland players — Michael Woud, Nando Pijnaker, Callan Elliot, Jesse Randall and Francis de Vries — featured for New Zealand at the World Cup and are expected to line up against the Lilywhites.

What travelling supporters can see

Away from the action, travelling Spurs fans can enjoy panoramic views from the Sky Tower, explore the Viaduct Harbour waterfront or make the short trip to Mount Eden for one of Auckland’s best viewpoints.

Sydney vs Tottenham Hotspur (29th July at Allianz Stadium, Sydney)

In the second stop on the tour, Sydney will welcome Tottenham to the Allianz Stadium, with Spurs returning to the city for the first time since their 1-0 friendly win over the Sky Blues in 2015.

More than a decade after Harry Kane settled the first meeting at the then-named ANZ Stadium, the clubs will renew acquaintances at the 42,500-capacity Allianz Stadium.

Much like their previous encounter, Sydney head into the fixture on the back of a runners-up finish, having fallen to Auckland in last season’s A-League Grand Final after also finishing second in the Finals Series ahead of the clubs’ 2015 meeting.

Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as Tottenham head coach in 2023, followed by Europa League glory last year, further strengthened the club’s following in Australia, with supporters now set to see the Lilywhites return Down Under for the fifth time.

Those making the journey can tick off two of Australia’s most iconic landmarks, the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, before exploring Circular Quay or the nearby Royal Botanic Garden ahead of kick-off.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur (1st August at Accor Stadium, Sydney)

The two London rivals endured remarkably similar campaigns last season, both missing out on European football and both cycling through three different managers before settling on new men at the helm.

The all-English showdown will be played in front of 85,000 fans at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

Xabi Alonso arrived at Chelsea after the Blues’ 10th-place finish and, much like De Zerbi at Spurs, faces the task of overseeing a new era. Tottenham have been far more active in the transfer market so far, however, though Chelsea have stepped things up, with Morgan Rogers a £117m buy, while Marco Palestra and Geovany Quenda offer potential.

Chelsea completed a Premier League double over the Lilywhites last season, having also won both league meetings in each of the previous two campaigns. De Zerbi will therefore be eager to use this fixture to begin shifting the balance in one of Tottenham’s most frustrating recent rivalries.

Accor Stadium, formerly known as ANZ Stadium, holds fond memories for Spurs, having staged their 2015 victory over Sydney, and the north Londoners will be hoping for another positive result on the same ground.

In addition to the aforementioned attractions, the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk offers one of Sydney’s most scenic experiences, while the Art Gallery of New South Wales and its renowned Archibald Prize exhibition are also worth adding to the itinerary.

Tottenham’s final pre-season fixtures

When the tour comes to an end, Tottenham return to Europe to face Getafe on 8th August before rounding off pre-season with back-to-back friendlies against Hoffenheim on 15th and 16th August.

That will leave De Zerbi and his squad with one final week to prepare for their Premier League opener at Brentford.

Beyond reconnecting with supporters across the globe, the Lilywhites must use this run of fixtures to establish a clear identity under De Zerbi after a campaign disrupted by constant managerial change.

With seven matches on the schedule, Spurs have been handed a well-balanced pre-season. Tests against two of the A-League’s best, a familiar rival who have held the upper hand in recent years and two confirmed European participants should provide the right level of competition, while the spacing between fixtures avoids overloading the squad ahead of the Brentford opener.

Having missed out on the top four in each of the past four seasons, returning to the Champions League will be De Zerbi’s ultimate ambition in his first full campaign at the club.

After successive 17th-place finishes, however, securing European qualification may be the more realistic minimum expectation given the club’s significant investment. Without the added burden of midweek European fixtures, Tottenham could also be well placed to mount a serious challenge in the domestic cup competitions.