Sports Mole previews Saturday's pre-season friendly clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Sevilla, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Off the back of a nine-goal thriller with Team K-League, Tottenham Hotspur travel to the Suwon World Cup Stadium in South Korea to take on Sevilla in Saturday's pre-season friendly.

Antonio Conte's side ran out 6-3 winners over Team K-League last time out, while Julen Lopetegui's side are yet to take to the pitch for an exhibition game this summer.

Match preview

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte pictured on May 12, 2022 © Reuters

Prior to watching Tottenham hit a K-League XI for six, fans inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium witnessed Antonio Conte oversee a particularly merciless training session that left Harry Kane and national hero Son Heung-min sprawled across the turf, with the Italian keen to possess the fittest squad in the Premier League.

Kane and Son recovered in time to each net braces in the 6-3 success over Team K-League as part of the Coupang Play Series, during which Eric Dier also lashed home a thunderbolt from a good 20 yards after a driving run forward, while Kim Jin-hyuk turned into his own net.

Team K-League had pegged Spurs back to 1-1 and 2-2 before the floodgates opened for those in white, and Conte was not afraid to put out a strong XI at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, but conceding a trio of avoidable goals was not on the menu for the Champions League contenders.

Spurs will soon head back to their North London base after the impending showdown with Sevilla, but Conte's side still have a lot of travelling to do this summer, as Rangers lie in wait at Ibrox before the I-Tech Cup showdown with Roma in Israel on July 30.

Tottenham were memorably rocked by a cluster of COVID-19 cases over the winter, and the virus has started to rear its ugly head within Conte's ranks again, and the Italian could do without any more disruption before the Lilywhites' return to the Champions League.

Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui reacts on April 3, 2022 © Reuters

After keeping Sevilla on the coat-tails of Real Madrid for a good few months of the 2021-22 campaign, it was no surprise to see Julen Lopetegui linked with the manager's job at Manchester United, but the runners-up spot eventually eluded Los Palanganas.

Sevilla won just three of their final 12 La Liga matches last term to drop from second to fourth in the last few gameweeks of the season, but Lopetegui's side still held off the threat of Real Betis and Real Sociedad to confirm their place in the Champions League.

In stark contrast to big-spending Tottenham, Sevilla have only made one summer signing in the form of centre-back Marcao but have sanctioned the exits of Diego Carlos, Oscar Rodriguez, Luuk de Jong and Ludwig Augustinsson, while Anthony Martial is back at Manchester United following his loan spell.

Los Palanganas will be completing a North London double in pre-season when they meet Arsenal in the Emirates Cup later this month, while Sporting Lisbon, Leicester City and Cadiz will also test their mettle against Lopetegui's men this summer.

Tottenham and Sevilla have only ever locked horns competitively in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup, during which the Spanish side ran out 4-3 aggregate winners in the quarter-finals en route to their second of six triumphs in Europe's second-tier tournament.

Tottenham Hotspur pre-season friendlies form:

Team News

Yves Bissouma in action for Brighton & Hove Albion in April 2022 © Reuters

Conte revealed after the win over Team K-League that Yves Bissouma and Fraser Forster were both absent after testing positive for coronavirus, and the duo will miss the showdown with Sevilla as they continue their isolation periods.

Dejan Kulusevski also suffered a calf injury in training on Monday and was an unused substitute in Wednesday's victory, while new signing Ivan Perisic is pushing to be involved as he steps up his recovery from a similar issue - the same can also be said for Ben Davies.

Twenty-year-old midfielder Harvey White earned plenty of plaudits for his performance as a late substitute on Wednesday, but senior stars such as Rodrigo Bentancur, Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should battle it out for the engine room spots here.

As for Sevilla, in-demand centre-back Jules Kounde recently underwent an operation to treat a hernia and is yet to join his teammates for pre-season training, while Rony Lopes and Oussama Idrissi are also absent.

Lopetegui must also assess the duo of Yassine Bounou and Youssef En-Nesyri after they were restricted to individual training on Tuesday, while Marcao will expect to earn his debut as Kounde remains sidelined.

Karim Rekik is the only realistic option to partner Marcao in the heart of defence, and former Tottenham attacker Erik Lamela could also start against his previous employers.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Romero, Dier, Sanchez; Doherty, Hojbjerg, Bentancur, Sessegnon; Richarlison, Kane, Son

Sevilla possible starting lineup:
Dmitrovic; Navas, Rekik, Marcao, Acuna; Jordan, Delaney, Rakitic; Lamela, Mir, Ocampos

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We say: Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 Sevilla

The breakup of the Carlos-Kounde partnership makes Sevilla's defence all the more vulnerable to Spurs' penchant for goals, and Lopetegui has seen his international players return in fits and starts over the past week.

Los Palanganas should never be counted out on the attacking front, especially as Spurs shipped three to Team K-League, but we are still backing Conte's side to prevail in another entertaining encounter.

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Top tip

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