JuicyTalk
Mikey Moore struck twice inside 21 minutes from Mathys Tel assists as Tottenham won their final public pre-season friendly at home against Hoffenheim in front of more than 54,000 fans.
Richarlison’s finish from the impressive Andy Robertson’s cross opened the scoring in the 35th minute before Tel’s clever run on the left and low delivery allowed 19-year-old Moore to double the advantage 14 minutes after half-time.
Tel – who joined Tottenham permanently from Bayern Munich for £29.8 million in June – then used his trickery in the left channel and teed up Moore to add his second in composed fashion.Spurs travel to Brentford in their Premier League opener on August 22 (17:30 BST) and are aiming to improve on consecutive 17th-placed finishes.
Tottenham vs Hoffenheim: Premier League side impress
Adam Hlozek charged through and curled an early shot against the crossbar for the visitors, but Spurs were worthy of the scoreline on an afternoon that began with an air of celebration when Pedro Porro was honoured by ex-Spurs striker Fernando Llorente before kick-off, having won the World Cup with Spain.
Porro was part of a squad who went 11 matches in all competitions without a home win between December and May last season, finally ending their drought by beating Everton to seal safety on the final day – and De Zerbi will want this victory to signal a stronger showing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2026/27.
De Zerbi again showed patience with his substitutions and appears to have settled on almost all of his starting side, although he is expected to field a strong team again Spurs play Hoffenheim again behind closed doors on Sunday.
Marcos Senesi was less impressive than fellow new centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, but Spurs looked comfortable for long periods and £100m club-record signing Sandro Tonali often set the tempo, including a run through the centre and slick pass to Robertson as part of the first goal.
Back where we belong 🫶 pic.twitter.com/fu1GuZ1Pcw
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 15, 2026
Tottenham team vs Hoffenheim
Tottenham replaced Ben Davies with Senesi in their one change from their 1-1 draw at home to Getafe in a behind-closed-doors friendly the previous Saturday.
James Maddison, new £85 million signing Mateus Fernandes and Micky van de Ven could return from injury against the fifth-placed finishers in last season’s Bundesliga on Sunday.
Tottenham starting XI: Antonin Kinsky, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Jan Paul van Hecke, Conor Gallagher, Richarlison, Mathys Tel, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Sandro Tonali, Mikey Moore
Spurs substitutes: Brandon Austin, Kota Takai, Jamie Donley, Tyrese Hall, Malachi Hardy, Tikaia Elliott-Parris, Thomas Byrne, Adebola Adewole
Hoffenheim team vs Spurs
Hoffenheim made four alterations from their 4-1 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach in Schwaz seven days earlier.
Leon Avdullahu, Hlozek, Bernardo and Adam Daghim came in, with Bambase Conte, Mats Rots and Cajetan Len moving to the bench and Alexander Prass not involved.
Hoffenheim starting XI: Oliver Baumann, Ozan Kabak, Leon Avdullahu, Adam Hlozek, Bernardo, Adam Daghim, Nathan De Cat, Wouter Burger, Tim Lemperle, Albian Hajdari, Vladimir Coufal
Hoffenheim substitutes: Luca Philipp, Yannick Biedermann, Robin Hranac, Patrick Wimmer, Max Moerstedt, Valentin Gendrey, Bambase Conte, Alessandro Vogt, Koki Machida, Natnael Abraha, Cajetan Lenz, Arthur Chaves, Mats Rots, Nick Spranger, Jamie Honajzer
Tottenham vs Hoffenheim stats
- These teams have met once competitively: a 3-2 away win for eventual champions Tottenham during the Europa League group phase in January 2025
- James Maddison and Heung-Min Son gave Spurs a 2-0 half-time lead in that game. Anton Stach then replied before Son scored again and David Mokwa netted in the 88th minute
- Tottenham also met a German club in their final pre-season match in 2025/26, losing 4-0 at a Bayern Munich side for whom Spurs all-time top scorer Harry Kane netted once and missed a penalty
- Spurs faced German sides in their final two league phase matches in last season’s Champions League, winning 2-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund and away to Eintracht Frankfurt with the help of a Solanke goal in each game
- Their competitive record against teams from Germany is W18 D5 L11, remaining unbeaten in their last six such matches
- Hoffenheim have lost all five of their competitive meetings with English teams, succumbing home away in the Champions League to Manchester City (2018/19) and Liverpool (2017/18) before that defeat against Spurs
- They faced three English clubs during pre-season 2024/25, drawing 2-2 with Norwich City and losing 1-0 to Ipswich Town in Austria before being beaten 2-0 by Fulham in Sinsheim
- Bayern’s Michael Olise (15) was the only midfielder to better Andrej Kramaric’s total of 14 goals in last season’s Bundesliga
- Olise (5) was also the only player to hit the woodwork more times in the 2025/26 division than Hoffenheim forward Tim Lemperle (4)
- Kraichgauer full-back Vladimir Coufal (116) and winger Bazoumana Toure (98), who joined Newcastle in July for £42 million, sent in the most crosses from open play in the top flight aside from Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Ryerson (118)
