Tottenham Hotspur will begin their preparations for the 2020-21 campaign with a friendly against League One side Ipswich Town at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
Spurs claimed sixth spot in the 2019-20 Premier League table despite finishing with a draw at Crystal Palace, while Ipswich, who have not been in competitive action since March, finished 11th in League One.
Match preview
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Little under a month since finishing their 2019-20 Premier League campaign, Tottenham are now preparing for the new season and will play their first friendly of the summer at home to Ipswich on Saturday before taking on Reading and Birmingham City on August 28 and August 29 respectively.
Jose Mourinho's side are due to start their new league season at home to Everton on September 12, while they will also face Southampton and Newcastle United in September before a trip to Manchester United at the start of October.
Spurs are facing a fixture pile-up early in the campaign as they will enter the second qualifying round of the Europa League on September 17, while the presence of the EFL Cup means that Mourinho will have to utilise his squad during an extremely busy period.
There is no question that the capital giants had their problems last term, but they only lost one of their final 10 league matches in 2019-20 and will be determined to make steps forward in the new season.
Mourinho could hand debuts to new signings Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Joe Hart this weekend, while some of the club's youngsters are likely to be given opportunities to impress.
Harry Kane will not be involved, though, as the England captain is in quarantine following a trip to the Bahamas.
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Ipswich, meanwhile, saw their 2019-20 League One season end at the start of March due to the coronavirus pandemic, which meant that the campaign was unable to resume.
Paul Lambert's side therefore claimed 11th in the third tier of English football and had been in disappointing form before the season was called to a halt, losing each of their last four.
Ipswich have not been a Premier League side since 2001-02, while they dropped into League One after 17 straight seasons in the second tier.
The Tractor Boys started their pre-season against Colchester United on Tuesday night, though, recording two victories over the U's - 4-0 and 1-0 - with both matches being 75 minutes long.
James Norwood, Tomas Holy and Jon Nolan are amongst those still on the treatment table, but Lambert is expected to send a strong side onto the field for Saturday's clash in London.
Tottenham form (last six Premier League): WDWWWD
Ipswich form (last six League One): DWLLLL
Head To Head
Tottenham only just lead the head to head against Ipswich, recording 23 wins to 22, with the further eight fixtures between the two sides finishing all square.
Ipswich have actually won each of the last three meetings between the two sides - all in the Premier League - the last of which was a 2-1 success in January 2002.
Tottenham's last win over the Blues was in August 2000, but Ipswich have enjoyed the better of their Premier League encounters, recording six victories to Spurs's three.
We say: Tottenham 3-1 Ipswich
Both managers will be focused on building fitness ahead of their respective new seasons but positives results certainly boost confidence. It is difficult to predict exactly what type of game will occur this weekend, but we fancy Spurs to emerge victorious due to their superior quality across the field.
Matt Law
