Spurs Prepare for Getafe Test Ahead of Premier League Season
Spurs slip back behind the gates of Hotspur Way on Saturday, but there is nothing gentle about the next step of their pre-season. Getafe are in town, the stands will be empty, and Roberto De Zerbi is edging his squad towards something that needs to look a lot like a Premier League team in two weeks’ time.
From Down Under to lockdown
The tour of New Zealand and Australia did its job. Spurs came home unbeaten, four games without defeat, and with a jolt of late drama that tends to follow good dressing rooms around.
Chelsea thought they had escaped with a draw in the final game of the trip. Ten-man Spurs, reduced after Kevin Danso’s red card, refused to let it go. With virtually the last kick, Richarlison snatched a 2-1 win and turned a tidy tour into a genuinely buoyant one.
Now the mood changes. No marketing, no fanfare, no long-haul fatigue to hide behind. Just a closed-doors test against LaLiga opposition, the kind of controlled environment managers love and players often quietly dread.
De Zerbi’s balancing act
De Zerbi’s work this summer has been part accelerator, part handbrake.
He knows last season’s campaign buckled under the weight of injuries. He also knows that, after a heavy summer of spending, this squad has to start knitting together quickly. Relationships do not build themselves, and the clock to Brentford away is ticking loudly.
So he has erred on the side of caution.
Destiny Udogie and James Maddison have not played a single pre-season minute. Maddison’s hip problem leaves him racing the calendar for that opening day at Brentford, a concern that lingers over every training session. Udogie’s absence only adds to the sense of a back line still waiting to be fully formed.
Micky van de Ven, close to signing a new contract, has been parked on the sidelines since returning from the World Cup. His absence has been managed, not panicked over, but Spurs know how different they look with his pace and authority anchoring the defence.
Dominic Solanke, one of the headline arrivals, only tasted his first pre-season minutes against Chelsea. He is expected to step up again against Getafe, another small but important step in turning a big fee into a functioning focal point.
Big names, slow comebacks
The most intriguing footage from Hotspur Way this week did not come from a match. It came from the training pitches, where two long-term absentees finally reappeared on the grass together.
Mohammed Kudus, out since January with a serious quad injury, was back running with Dejan Kulusevski, who has not played since a patella injury in May 2025. Two players who change the tempo of a game simply by being on the ball, jogging side by side as the cameras rolled.
Spurs will not rush Kulusevski. After more than a year out, the Swedish playmaker remains short of team training and even further from competitive minutes. His return is a long project, not a quick fix.
Kudus is closer. He has rejoined full training and is edging towards full fitness, but the sense around Hotspur Way is that Getafe will come too soon. With Brentford looming, De Zerbi will not throw him in just to satisfy curiosity.
Mateus Fernandes is a different story. The £85million midfielder, who missed the last two games with a calf issue, has returned to training and is expected to be in contention on Saturday. For a manager trying to bed in a new spine, having Fernandes available is no small detail.
Towards a first-choice feel
The plan, if De Zerbi gets his way, is to move closer to a full-strength side against Getafe.
The predicted XI carries that intent: Kinsky in goal; Gray, Van de Ven, Van Hecke and Robertson across the back; Fernandes and Tonali in midfield; Williams-Barnett and Gallagher supporting Tel and Solanke in attack. It is not the finished article, and doubts over Maddison, Udogie and Kudus underline that, but it looks more like a team than a trial.
Behind closed doors, the focus will be sharp. This is where patterns are rehearsed, where distances between centre-backs and full-backs are argued over, where a new striker learns exactly when his midfielders want him to check to feet or spin in behind.
Getafe will not care about Spurs’ injury history or transfer spend. They will be awkward, organised, and exactly the kind of opponent who exposes any slackness in concentration. That is precisely why this fixture was arranged.
The run-in to Brentford
Once Getafe are gone, there is no gentle glide into the season. A double-header against Hoffenheim next weekend will complete a demanding pre-season schedule before the Premier League curtain rises away to Brentford.
Kick-off against Getafe is 3pm BST on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Hotspur Way, streamed on SPURSPLAY. The gates will be closed, but the implications will not be hidden.
Spurs have their momentum. Now they need their players back, their patterns fixed, and their new faces fully wired into De Zerbi’s demands. In two weeks’ time, there will be nowhere to hide.
