Spurs begin their preparations for the season this afternoon in Seoul, where they face a team made up of the best top-level players in South Korea. It’s the first summer he’s spent under Antonio Conte, who competed last season, and the Italian has wasted no time nearly exhausting his squad.
During an open training session earlier this week, the likes of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane collapsed on the pitch in front of 6,000 fans as Conte and his team pushed his players to improve their fitness. People like Richarlison and Yves Bissouma were seen at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
However, Ivan Perisic is unlikely to get his first few minutes in a Spurs shirt as he is still recovering from an injury sustained at the end of last season, while Dejan Kulusevski is in doubt after training. Follow along with Standard Sport below!
Live updates
Son a sub today
Harry Kane and local hero Son Heung-min are among the substitutes today. Fans will be desperate to see South Korean captain Son in action.
No Bissouma or Forster
There will be no debuts for Yves Bissouma and Fraser Forster today, as both have been ruled out due to illness.
Dejan watch
Dejan Kulusevski is warming up with his teammates, so maybe we’ll see him this afternoon after all.
Team news
So it’s a debut for Richarlison and returns for both Oliver Skipp – from injury – and Bryan Gil – off loan.
Expect a lot of changes too.
Tottenham XII
Start XI: Austin; Romero, Animal, Sanchez; Royal, Bentancur, Skipp, Sessegnon; Lucas, Richarlison, Bryan
Brutal training exercises
Antonio Conte is not joking.
Son Heung-min had to be dragged to his feet during a rough training session on Monday.
Conte is known for his grueling drills aimed at making his players stronger than the rest – to make their rivals “spit blood” – and the 6,000 fans who watched Spurs’ open training session at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Monday were able to see that in action.
The likes of Son and Harry Kane were forced to take a breather as the team was sent off after two hours of practice on repeated sprints across the field and back.
Animal at summer signings
Eric Dier was lyrical about Tottenham’s transfer activities this summer.
Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Clement Lenglet have all signed, with more expected to follow.
“I’m so happy on an individual level, and I think I can speak on a collective level too, everyone is really happy with how the summer has gone,” he told reporters.
Perisic and Bissouma shirt numbers
Tottenham have informed fans that new signings Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma will be wearing shirts No. 22 and No. 38 respectively this afternoon, but may wear other numbers in the future. Pape Matar Sarr will wear no.29.
Also interesting to note that Perisic could get a few minutes today, with such an announcement.
New blob to see
The Spurs are wearing their new home kit for the first time today.
Score Prediction
Today’s game should be a pretty routine run for Spurs, with a lot of changes.
It is the first of four games in just over two weeks for Spurs and with the new Premier League season coming just a week later, Antonio Conte is looking to get his charges up and running as soon as possible.
I’m aiming for a 3-0 win and counting on Son to score seems like a good thing.