Tottenham Pre-Season Preparation: Getafe Friendly Insights
Tottenham step up their pre-season work this weekend with a game nobody in the stands will see, but everybody inside the club will feel.
Getafe arrive at Hotspur Way for a behind-closed-doors friendly that comes at a delicate point in Roberto De Zerbi’s preparations: close enough to the Premier League kick-off to demand intensity, yet still shadowed by injury doubts and cautious minutes.
From Down Under drama to London reality
Spurs are back in north London after a productive and, at times, breathless tour of New Zealand and Australia. The trip ended with a jolt of adrenaline: a dramatic 2-1 win over Chelsea, sealed with virtually the last kick of the game by Richarlison.
They finished that match with 10 men after Kevin Danso’s red card, but still found a way to win. That matters. Pre-season scorelines often fade quickly, yet late winners and backs-to-the-wall spells have a habit of hardening a group.
Four games unbeaten so far. A sense of momentum. But also a sense of fragility.
De Zerbi knows exactly how last season unravelled. Injuries ripped through Spurs’ campaign, turning a promising start into a scramble. He is determined not to repeat the same mistake by overloading key players in July and August.
Fitness puzzles for De Zerbi
The Italian has been forced into a careful balancing act. Some of his most important players have barely kicked a ball this summer.
Destiny Udogie and James Maddison have yet to feature at all in pre-season. Maddison, in particular, has become a concern. A hip problem means he is now in a race against time to be ready for the Premier League opener away to Brentford in two weeks.
Micky van de Ven, on the verge of signing a new contract, has also been kept on the sidelines since returning from the World Cup. His absence has been precautionary, but it has limited De Zerbi’s opportunities to bed in his first-choice defence.
At the other end of the pitch, Dominic Solanke finally saw his first minutes of the summer in that win over Chelsea. His integration, after a big move and a disrupted build-up, remains one of the manager’s key tasks over the next fortnight.
The message from De Zerbi is clear: no unnecessary risks. Not now.
Big signings, bigger expectations
Spurs have spent heavily again, and the squad looks deeper, more varied, more tailored to De Zerbi’s ideas. That spending spree brings its own pressure.
Relationships need to form. Combinations have to click. The manager will want this Getafe game to look and feel as close to a Premier League contest as possible, even if the cameras are absent and the stands are empty.
One major boost is the return to training of Mateus Fernandes. A calf issue kept the £85million midfielder out of Spurs’ last two matches, but he is back with the group and in contention to feature on Saturday. His presence in midfield, alongside the likes of Sandro Tonali, offers De Zerbi the kind of technical control and aggression he craves.
Long-term absentees edging back
There was another flicker of encouragement at Hotspur Way this week. Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski, both long-term absentees, were filmed running together in training.
For Spurs, that sight alone felt significant.
Kudus has been out since January with a serious quad injury. Kulusevski has not played for over a year after suffering a patella injury in May 2025. The club are treating the Swede with particular care. He is not yet involved in full team sessions and remains some distance from a return to competitive action.
Kudus is further along. He is back training with the rest of the squad and edging towards full fitness. Even so, it remains doubtful he will be risked against Getafe. After so many months out, Spurs will not rush him for a pre-season friendly, however useful the workout.
For now, his presence on the grass is the win.
Quiet setting, loud implications
Behind closed doors or not, this game carries weight. De Zerbi will want to move closer to his starting XI for Brentford, to sharpen patterns of play and test combinations under pressure.
The predicted line-up underlines that intention:
Kinsky; Gray, Van de Ven, Van Hecke, Robertson; Fernandes, Tonali; Williams-Barnett, Gallagher, Tel; Solanke.
It is a side that blends established names with newer faces, and one that should give a clearer picture of how Spurs intend to attack the new season.
Maddison, Udogie and Kudus remain doubts, their workloads monitored carefully. Each day between now and Brentford becomes a negotiation between medical advice and competitive instinct.
The countdown continues
After Getafe, Spurs face a double-header against Bundesliga side Hoffenheim next weekend, the final tune-up before the Premier League curtain rises.
By then, De Zerbi will want fewer questions and more certainties. Who partners Van de Ven regularly? How quickly can Solanke become the focal point? When do Kudus and Kulusevski stop being rehab stories and start being options again?
Saturday’s friendly at Hotspur Way, 3pm BST, will not come with fanfare or a full stadium. But inside Tottenham’s training base, it will feel like something else entirely: the moment pre-season stops being a tour and starts looking like a season taking shape.
