Preview: K-League XI vs. Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

Continuing their pre-season preparations in Asia, Tottenham Hotspur will pit their wits against a K-League XI on Wednesday night in Seoul.

The hosts have an array of the top players from throughout the K-League, whilst the Lilywhites are likely to name a strong XI against their Asian opponents.

Match preview

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Following a promising first season in charge at the North London club, Ange Postecoglou is aiming to compete for major honours as Tottenham head coach during the 2024-25 campaign, with the Lilywhites only managing a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League last term.

Spurs have commenced their pre-season schedule in empathic fashion, recording four straight wins over Cambridge United, Hearts, Queens Park Rangers and Vissel Kobe on Saturday night, when Pedro Porro, Son Heung-min and Mikey Moore all got onto the scoresheet for the visitors.

Plotting to break into Postecoglou's first-team thinking this season, 16-year-old Moore has impressed massively so far over the summer, also finding the net against Scottish Premiership side Hearts at Tynecastle.

The Lilywhites will be aiming to record their second win over a K-League XI after their trip to South Korea in July 2022, when the Premier League side smashed their hosts 6-3.

Following Wednesday's clash, Spurs will face German giants Bayern Munich twice over the space of eight days before a top-flight opener at the King Power Stadium against newly-promoted Leicester City on August 17.

After failing to beat either Barcelona, Juventus or Spurs in previous forms, the K-League XI produced a remarkable win over La Liga side Atletico Madrid this time last year, condemning Diego Simeone's troops to a 3-2 defeat.

All of the hosts' strikes arrived during the course of a pulsating second half, meaning that goals from Thomas Lemar and Carlos Martin were not enough to claim any bragging rights for the Spaniards.

During their most recent loss, the K-League XI were battered 6-3 by Spurs two years ago, when Son, Harry Kane and Eric Dier were all on the scoresheet, with the former the only remaining member of that trio in North London.

Team News

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Scoring a hat-trick in the 7-2 smashing of Cambridge at the start of pre-season, Brennan Johnson appears to be in good form this summer and could start on Wednesday.

Summer arrival Archie Gray has been earning rave reviews for his performance so far for the Lilywhites, with the former Leeds United man set to feature once again here.

Lucas Bergvall is another young talent who will be hoping to make major waves in the first team this season, and the Swede is set to provide the creative spark against the K-League XI.

Jesse Lingard was named in the initial K-League XI squad but has been forced to pull out of contention for the Spurs clash due to injury.

At just 17 years of age, attacker Yoon Do-young is being described as a prodigy by some South Korean outlets and could play a major part against the Premier League visitors.

K-League XI possible starting lineup: In-jae Hwang; Mun-ki Hwang, Park, Italo, Jeong; Yoon, Oberdan, Cesinha, Anderson; Iljutcenko, Tuci

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup: Vicario; Porro, Royal, Gray, Davies; Sarr, Bissouma; Johnson, Maddison, Son; Kulusevski

We say: K-League XI 1-4 Tottenham Hotspur

With a number of top players pulling out of the squad, the K-League XI are set to struggle against top-class Premier League opposition on Wednesday night.

Tottenham have been firing in the goals so far this pre-season, and we see no reason why that trend cannot continue in Seoul against the K League's best.