Tottenham vs. Shakhtar Donetsk: game time, match thread, and how to watch friendly online

Jul 21, 2023

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Tottenham’s one and only home friendly match is for charity.

Here we go! Tottenham Hotspur are back in action today in their third friendly of the preseason. This time they’re experiencing the comforts of home — Spurs will host Ukrainian Premier League side Shakhtar Donetsk in a friendly match that is a fundraiser for Shakhtar’s club charity.

OK, but it’s also a little more than that, at least symbolically. The shadow of Harry Kane’s possible move to Bayern Munich hangs like the Sword of Damocles over everything that Spurs does. Will Kane play tomorrow, knowing it’s quite possibly the last chance for him to say goodbye to the Spurs home fans? Will he be held out to make sure that he doesn’t pick up a stupid injury which could scupper the deal? Gonna be interesting.

Also — this is ostensibly the Manor Solomon Match™. While the club hasn’t said anything to confirm it, the low-key conspiracy theory is that this match was arranged in order to partially mollify Shakhtar, who were pissed off that Spurs were allowed to acquire Solomon, formerly a Shakhtar player, as a free agent. Is that true? We don’t know. Would anyone be surprised if it were true? Nope.

So that’s all the narrative. But this is also a chance to see Spurs’ players in action, including — maybe? — new signing Ashley Phillips. (It’s still too soon for Micky van de Ven who will sign early next week)

Remember, this is a friendly. It’s meaningless. It won’t stop anyone from deciding they want to take every performance way too seriously, but it does mean that if you do you really should go out and touch some grass afterwards.

Ange Postecoglou names his first starting XI at @SpursStadium!

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (friendly)Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, North London, UKSunday, August 6, 2023Time: 9:00 a.m. USA, 2:00 p.m. UKTV: not televised (UK/USA). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com Streaming: SpursPLAY

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Have fun, and COYS!