Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to pre-season when they take on MK Dons at Stadium MK on Wednesday evening.
The Dons are in action for the final time before their 2021-22 campaign begins and will be backed by more than 11,000 fans in midweek.
Match preview
© Reuters
Nuno Espirito Santo has a number of big issues to deal with as he continues to settle into life at a new club, the biggest priority being the future of striker Harry Kane.
While rumours continue to circulate over the England international, Spurs did at least manage to tie down fellow key man Son Heung-min to a new long-term deal last week.
Spurs have already brought in Pierluigi Gollini to provide some competition for Hugo Lloris, while Cristian Romero is also reportedly close to joining from Atalanta BC.
In terms of on-the-field activity, the Lilywhites started life under Nuno with an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient, before seeing off Colchester United 3-0 last time out.
Son, Lucas Moura and Dele Alli were all on the scoresheet before half time in a routine win for Spurs, who fielded a mix of experienced players and Under-23 squad members.
Nuno will likely take the same approach to this game, but with only two more friendlies to come - against Chelsea and Arsenal - he needs to start thinking about his strongest XI.
© Reuters
As for the home side, they have also played a couple of friendlies this summer, thrashing Coventry City 7-1 in a behind-closed-doors game before losing 3-1 to Bristol City.
The Dons enjoyed spells on top against City, but they were outclassed and were undone by goals from Saikou Janneh, Tommy Conway and Nahki Wells.
Russell Martin made numerous changes as the match went on and Jay Bird, the only player to play the full 90 minutes, pulled back what proved to be a consolation goal.
This is the last friendly Martin's men will play before facing Bournemouth in round one of the EFL Cup on Saturday, so a strong starting lineup should be fielded.
- W
- L
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Eric Dier, Harry Winks and former MK Dons man Alli have started both of Tottenham's friendlies thus far, but Nuno may elect to give the trio a run-out from the bench here.
Son took just 11 minutes to find the net in his first game back for Tottenham against Colchester and should be among a number of high-profile starters for the visitors.
A number of internationals are still away after representing their countries at Euro 2020, including star man Kane.
New signing Gollini may be considered for selection, but it is more likely that academy product Alfie Whiteman will get possibly a last run-out of pre-season here.
As for MK Dons, they know that an improvement is needed on the back of their two-goal loss to second-tier opponents Bristol City.
A similar starting lineup could be used here, though the likes of Dean Lewington, John Freeman and Charlie Brown are pushing for inclusion.
MK Dons possible starting lineup:
Ravizzoli; Watson, Baldwin, O'Hora, Darling; Riley, Kasumu, Freeman, Twine; Eisa, Bird
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Whiteman; Paskotsi, Carter-Vickers, Tanganga, Omole; Skipp, Winks, White; Bergwijn, Parrott, Son
We say: MK Dons 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham may be far from full strength, but Nuno still has a number of world-class stars to call upon for this trip to Stadium MK.
After flexing their muscles with a 3-0 win at Colchester last week, we can see the Lilywhites seeing off the third-tier Dons with relative ease.
Daniel Lewis
