Club Friendlies
17 July, 2024
Tynecastle Park
MATCH TIMES
India
11:30 PM
UAE
10:00 PM
Saudi Arabia
09:00 PM
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LIVE INFO
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Tottenham possible starting lineup: Austin; Porro, Phillips, Byfield, Donley; Bissouma, Skipp; Kulusevski, Maddison, Werner; Son
Hearts possible starting lineup: Gordon; Oyegoke, Kent, Rowles, Neilson; Tagawa, Spittal, Tait, Dhanda; Boyce, Drammeh
Team Previews
Following a high-scoring, closed-doors encounter in their opening summer match, Tottenham Hotspur head north to face Hearts in a pre-season friendly at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday.
Ange Postecoglou provided numerous players with game time against Cambridge United over the weekend, while their Scottish hosts suffered a 2-1 defeat to Leyton Orient on Saturday. Although some Tottenham supporters were satisfied with their side indirectly aiding Manchester City in securing the Premier League title last season—thus denying Arsenal a long-awaited triumph—Postecoglou's fiery post-match press conference echoed Antonio Conte's infamous rant against Southampton in 2023.
Tottenham's failure to hinder Man City's title campaign, suffering their fifth defeat in their last seven Premier League matches, cost them a place in the 2024-25 Champions League. Nonetheless, they will return to UEFA competition, vying for Europa League supremacy in the coming months.
With the dust settled and Postecoglou having spent the summer as a Euro 2024 pundit, Tottenham are gradually regrouping at Hotspur Way as players complete their international duties in Germany or the USA. Wednesday's match marks Spurs' first official friendly of the summer, following their impressive seven-goal display against League One Cambridge in a recent training match. Tottenham followed a 5-0 first-half blitz with a 2-2 draw in the second half on July 13.
Many of Postecoglou's regular first-team players featured in that game, and Spurs have additional pre-season fixtures against Queens Park Rangers, Vissel Kobe, Team K League, and a double-header with Bayern Munich to look forward to.
Similarly, Hearts' efforts to break into the Champions League ended in disappointment, but their qualification for the Europa League was straightforward. Under the leadership of Steven Naismith, who took over full-time in September 2023, Hearts finished third in the Scottish Premiership with 68 points, securing a spot in the final qualifying round of Europe's secondary competition. However, their pre-season preparations were hindered by a 2-1 loss to League One side Leyton Orient at Tynecastle Park, despite an early goal from Liam Boyce.
Hearts and Tottenham last met 13 years ago in the 2011-12 Europa League qualifiers, where Harry Redknapp's Spurs triumphed 5-0 in Scotland before a goalless draw at White Hart Lane sealed their advancement.