The 2026/27 pre-season is up and running.
Set the alarm, keep the kettle on, and try not to wake the neighbors up as the Lilywhites kick off down under in Australia this Wednesday morning. And this mid-week Spurs boys will play for a sense of silverware (in a sense) as the North Londoners go into the pre-season Sydney Super Cup fixture on the back of a winning run in the past prep games.
Tottenham comes into this after another tidy outing down the hemisphere following the 2-0 win over Auckland FC as the North Londoners keep the good vibes rolling. And now the next opponent is a Sydney side that was quite close to winning the A-League glory last time around, which makes this one a possibly tricky preseason fixture.
Match Info
Date: 29th July, 2026
Time: Kick-off at 10:45 am BST
Location: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Sydney FC vs Tottenham Match Preview
Former Australian international Patrick Kisnorbo took charge of the reins for Sydney FC in March, and then they went on a run of seven unbeaten games. That run meant that they took the New South Wales-based side into the A-League grand final. But they couldn’t score a sixth title after coming short in New Zealand.
But the sky blues have picked up from that defeat quite nicely as they returned to competitive action last week, where they got better of Bayswater City (FT: 5-1) in a game that saw Tiago Quintal netting a hat-trick.
Though despite their unbeaten run and all of their strengths, Sydney have gone six on the spin without a win at Allianz Stadium (four draws, two defeats). The last time they won a game at Allianz Stadium was back in February against Brisbane Roar.
But they are not in action till October 16, when they face off against city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers in the middle of October, so we can be sure that they’d be itching to test themselves against a Premiership side this week.
While Sydney FC prepare to upset the English big dogs, Tottenham have had a lovely preseason under Roberto De Zerbi. The Lilywhites have seen wins over MK Dons and Auckland in the two friendlies that they played in the past week, and Tottenham have come through with three goals and two clean sheets from those two games.
Last Sunday morning was a special one as we saw a crowd record in a football game begin set on Kiwi soil as 40,000 supporters made their way to Eden Park as Tottenham got better of the reigning A-League champions Auckland FC by a two-goal margin with Dane Scarlett and Richarlison finding the back of the net.
While Tottenham come into the game unbeaten in the preseason, we saw Roberto De Zerbi starting a 17-year-old, Luca Williams-Barnett, who has turned heads this preseason. Alongside him, we saw a fresh-faced starting eleven with Leicester City-bound Malachi Hardy starting alongside Kota Takai at the weekend.
While we saw the Italian rolling out for big names around the hour mark when the fans down under got a glimpse of Richarlison and Tottenham marquee arrival Mateus Fernandes. The latter is one of six signings that Tottenham have made this summer as RDZ look to get the North Londoners back into the Champions League places.
Team news
Sydney FC
After making his competitive debut last week in that Bayswater hammering, Patrick Kisnorbo could hand Takahiro Sekine his first start for Sydney FC, while he may be joined at the back by Jordan Courtney-Perkins after the 23-year-old forced his way into Kisnorbo’s starting lineup last season.
While their offensive side is distinctly an Aussie affair, they do have a bit of La Liga class in Spanish forward Victor Campuzano (who once played for Espanyol).
Tottenham Hotspur
The treatment room at N17 isn’t quite empty just yet, with Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert, and Dejan Kulusevski all still nursing knee problems.
James Maddison and Destiny Udogie have made the trip to Australia, but both of them are yet to feature as the duo builds back their fitness.
The Lilywhites’ summer arrival Sandro Tonali has apparently shaken off his hamstring niggle and could get some minutes in Sydney.
Predicted lineups
Sydney FC: Hoefsloot; Grant, Popovic, Courtney-Perkins, Garuccio; Kamijo, Youlley, De Jesus, Quintal, Akon; Macallister
Tottenham Hotspur: Dubravka; Gray, Van Hecke, Davies, Robertson; Williams-Barnett, Gallagher; Yang, Donley, Moore; Richarlison