Mikey Moore Stars as Tottenham Beats Hoffenheim 3-0
Tottenham walked back into their home stadium for the first time since May’s great escape and delivered something far more routine: a controlled, confident 3-0 pre-season win over Hoffenheim, lit up by a ruthless Mikey Moore and a statement display from several new faces.
Richarlison struck first, Moore added two after the break, and Roberto De Zerbi’s side kept their unbeaten pre-season rolling. It was only a friendly on paper. It felt like a team quietly hardening for what comes next.
Moore and Bergvall rise while futures hang in the air
For Moore, this was supposed to be the summer of a loan move and learning elsewhere. Cologne had been circling, a deal close enough to touch. Instead, the 19-year-old stayed, started – and changed the conversation.
His first goal was simple in execution, anything but in significance. Mathys Tel burst down the right and drilled the ball across; Moore arrived, composed, and tapped in. The celebration barely flickered. A nod, a brief acknowledgement, almost as if he knew the real audition had only just begun.
The second was different. Again Tel found him, this time with a clever pass, and Moore’s finish carried the touch of a player who feels at home in the box. Deft, assured, and followed by a celebration that actually showed what it meant. The teenager’s destination for the season remains unresolved, but he has handed De Zerbi a genuine dilemma. Loan project or first-team weapon?
He was not the only young midfielder playing with a question mark above his head.
Two months ago, Lucas Bergvall looked close to the exit door. Newcastle and Nottingham Forest had him firmly on their radar, and concerns over his game time had opened the door to an uncomfortable conversation. De Zerbi addressed those worries and has backed that talk with minutes.
Against Hoffenheim, Bergvall justified the faith. Sharp on the ball, plugged into the tempo, he looked every inch a player who expects to be part of the plan rather than a footnote. Whether that holds once the window closes is still unclear, but his head coach has been explicit: he wants to keep him. Performances like this strengthen that stance.
Robertson wastes no time making himself indispensable
Andy Robertson did not leave Liverpool to wind down. He left to play, and on this evidence, he will.
Stationed on the left, the Scotland captain dominated that flank. Cross after cross rained into the box, each one a reminder of why his delivery has been among the best in the league for years. The breakthrough came from the sort of ball he has made a career out of: whipped, accurate, begging to be finished. Richarlison obliged, glancing home the opener from Robertson’s pinpoint service.
His signing had already been hailed as a coup for the dressing room, a dose of title-winning know-how for a squad that nearly fell out of the league last season. Against Hoffenheim, he showed he is far more than an experienced voice. He is still a high-level, high-intensity full-back.
With Destiny Udogie yet to feature in pre-season and doubts lingering over the Italy international’s fitness, Robertson has not just filled a gap – he has seized it. On this form, he walks into the starting XI at Brentford next Saturday. For Udogie, the fight to reclaim that spot has suddenly become far more complicated.
Kinsky slams the door shut
At the other end, Antonin Kinsky spent the afternoon underlining why he now wears the No 1 tag.
Hoffenheim created enough to test Tottenham’s resolve, but every time the visitors threatened to puncture the mood, Kinsky stood firm. He made a string of saves to preserve the clean sheet, reading shots early and refusing to spill anything inviting.
He was just as assured with the ball at his feet, stepping into De Zerbi’s possession-heavy approach with the calm of a goalkeeper who has been doing it for years. Crosses? Claimed. Pressing forwards? Bypassed with simple, sharp distribution.
Seven months ago, his nightmare in Madrid had many questioning whether he was ready for this level. The turnaround has been stark. On Saturday, he looked every inch a first-choice Premier League goalkeeper, and he has now deservedly moved ahead of Guglielmo Vicario, who sat this one out with Juventus watching closely.
New faces bed in, big names missing
This was also a first proper glimpse of Tottenham’s summer rebuild on home turf. Four new signings – Robertson, Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Sensi – all made their home debuts, each slotting into a side that suddenly looks deeper and more balanced than the one that flirted with disaster last season.
Not everything was on show. There were notable absentees: Micky van de Ven, James Maddison and Mateus Fernandes were all missing from the matchday picture. Their return will add another layer to a squad already starting to take shape under De Zerbi.
Spurs will see Hoffenheim again on Sunday in a behind-closed-doors game at the training ground, a final tune-up before the curtain goes up for real at Brentford, live on Sky Sports, next Saturday.
Unbeaten in pre-season, sharper in both boxes, and with young talents refusing to quietly accept loan moves or squad roles, Tottenham look and feel different. The question now is simple: when the points start counting, does this new edge survive the jump from rehearsal to the real thing?
