Tottenham vs Auckland FC predicted XI: Roberto De Zerbi goes strong with win in bank

Tottenham Hotspur will look to remain unbeaten in pre-season against Auckland FC on Sunday morning.

Scheduled for a 04:30am UK kick-off time, it's set to be a very long night or early start for Spurs fans, depending on what your plan for tuning in is.

It's also going to be Tottenham's first public-facing friendly of the summer, with Wednesday's 1-0 win over MK Dons being behind closed doors.

Mateus Fernandes marked his Lilywhites debut by scoring the sensational winning goal in the first five minutes against the Dons, with the Portuguese midfielder already looking like a smart signing.

However, the 2025-26 A-League champions Auckland will be looking to provide perhaps a sterner test this weekend.

Ahead of Sunday morning's game, Tottenham News attempts to predict the Spurs side Roberto De Zerbi will start with at Eden Park.

Roberto De Zerbi rotates his goalkeepers in Tottenham vs Auckland FC

Against MK Dons, De Zerbi put out an entire new XI for the second half besides one player, Rio Kyerematen, and so he can be expected to do the same against Auckland.

In goal against the Dons was Antonin Kinsky, but it was second-half substitute Martin Dubravka who seemed to play better than his opposite number, and so we've gone for the Slovakian to start in New Zealand.

At right-back Archie Gray looks primed to keep his starting spot there, whilst the aforementioned Kyerematen deserves to retain his place on the left side of defence.

Meanwhile, Tottenham News did report on Malachi Hardy's hugely impressive display against MK Dons, and so we're tipping the 18-year-old to come into the starting lineup at one of the two centre-back positions.

Alongside the teenager, we're going to side with the experienced head of Ben Davies over Kota Takai.

With the defence sorted, will De Zerbi stick with a strong starting midfield contingent at Eden Park?

Williams-Barnett rewarded with Auckland start

Moving into the middle of the park, and we're expecting De Zerbi to largely keep things as they were against MK Dons this time round too.

The aforementioned Fernandes looks likely to start once again after his match-winning performance, whilst Sandro Tonali should also operate alongside him.

Those two look like the future of Tottenham's engine room, and so building that partnership as early and quickly as possible is a wise move.

On the left, we think this could be a nice opportunity to hand Mikey Moore a start over Mathys Tel, with the 18-year-old looking set to go out on loan again for next season.

However, he could yet play his way into a first-team role next term, but Spurs' coaching staff are likely to want to see him in a starting role in a game before making any decision on his immediate future.

Over on the right, expect Manor Solomon to keep his place after a strong performance on Wednesday night, where as per FotMob, he completed all 23 of his pass attempts successfully, had one shot on target, won two of his three ground duels and took three touches in the opposition box.

But, one big chance to the starting XI could come in the form of 17-year-old Luca Williams-Barnett replacing Conor Gallagher in the number 10 spot.

The teenager really caught the eye against MK Dons, with his performance no doubt leaving fans and staff wanting to see more, before making an informed decision on whether to send him out on loan.

As per FotMob, no player on the pitch created more chances in the game than his three, whilst he also completed 91 per cent of his passes, had one blocked shot, completed two successful dribbles and wasn't dispossessed once.

All that's left now is to decide who it is leading the line from the off against Auckland.

De Zerbi has a fascinating starting striker choice to make

Dominic Solanke was the centre-forward who started against MK Dons, but by all accounts, he struggled to make his impact on the game.

The candidates to take his place against Auckland are Richarlison and Dane Scarlett, with both of these strikers facing uncertain Lilywhites futures.

Richarlison is being strongly linked with a move away from Spurs this summer, whilst Scarlett is entering the final year of his contract and looks firmly down the pecking order after an unproductive senior career by way of goals so far.

So, we expect Solanke to once again start up top this Sunday morning, but he needs to start firing soon if De Zerbi is to feel confident enough in his ability to spearhead the attack in the Premier League next term.

If not, Spurs have shown they will spend big to get their targets.