Tottenham's Pre-Season Opener in New Zealand: New Manager and Big Expectations

Tottenham touch down in New Zealand on Sunday with more than jet lag in their luggage. They arrive with a new manager, a £200million rebuild and a fanbase desperate to see signs that the club is finally heading back towards the sharp end of the Premier League.

The setting is Eden Park, Auckland. The opposition: Auckland FC, third in last season’s A-League and ready to welcome one of English football’s great travelling circuses. A record crowd is expected. Pre-season or not, this will feel big.

De Zerbi’s first public look

Tottenham have already opened their preparations with a 1-0, behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons on Wednesday, a low-key first step under Roberto De Zerbi. That was for staff, analysts and internal notebooks.

This one is for the supporters.

It will be the first time travelling fans see De Zerbi’s “new-look” Spurs in the flesh, and there is plenty new to examine. The club have already spent more than £200m on six signings, a statement of intent after back-to-back 17th-place finishes that would have been unthinkable not long ago.

Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke and Martin Dubravka have all made the trip as part of a 35-man squad. Only one of the summer arrivals, Argentina centre-back Marcos Senesi, stays behind.

For a pre-season opener on foreign soil, that is a strong hand.

Big names missing, big questions lingering

Not everyone is on the plane. Guglielmo Vicario is absent with what the club describe as a “minor knock”, a phrase that does little to quieten the noise around his future. Cristian Romero is also missing after his World Cup exertions, and both players remain heavily linked with moves away.

Whether either has already played his last game for Spurs is still unclear. The uncertainty hangs over this tour.

Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur have been granted extended leave following the World Cup, while Pedro Porro and Djed Spence, who also went deep into the tournament, have not travelled either.

Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski, Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert remain at Hotspur Way, each continuing rehabilitation from long-term injuries. Their absence strips some stardust from the travelling party, but it also clears space.

Chance for the kids

With senior figures missing, opportunity knocks for the club’s younger faces. Luca Williams-Barnett, who impressed in the win over MK Dons, is one of those hoping to turn a pre-season cameo into something more substantial. Mikey Moore is another name to watch, a talent the club rate highly and who now has a stage worthy of the hype.

De Zerbi will want more than just glimpses of flair. He will be searching for early signs that his ideas are taking root: the intensity off the ball, the bravery in possession, the positional play that has defined his work elsewhere.

Spurs are expected to field different starting lineups in each half, a familiar pre-season approach but one that should keep the tempo high and the audition list long.

A tour with an edge

Auckland FC, fresh from a third-place finish in the A-League, will not treat this as a gentle exhibition. For them, this is a showcase. For Spurs, it is the first public step of a demanding tour that moves on to Australia, where Sydney FC and then London rivals Chelsea await next week.

The schedule is sharp. So are the expectations.

Predicted Tottenham XI vs Auckland FC: Kinsky; Takai, Van de Ven, Van Hecke, Udogie; Fernandes, Tonali; Yang, Moore, Tel; Solanke.

Kick-off at Eden Park is set for 4am BST on Sunday July 26, 2026. By the time dawn breaks back in London, supporters will have their first real clues: is this just another reboot, or the start of something finally built to last?