James Maddison played 45 minutes on his first and only pre-season outing as Tottenham drew 2-2 with Hoffenheim on Sunday. The playmaker had not featured at all over the summer due to an unspecified issue following an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in pre-season last year.
Maddison returns in behind-closed-doors contest
Maddison was named in Tottenham's starting XI for the second contest against Hoffenheim in less than 24 hours. While Saturday's 3-0 win over the same Bundesliga opponents took place in front of fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the second match was held behind closed doors at Spurs' Hotspur Way training complex in Enfield.
A completely different Spurs starting XI featured Maddison, who got 45 minutes under his belt on his first start in nearly 12 months. He made way for youngster Reiss Elliot-Parris at the interval after a mixed display that included losing the ball early inside the box and fouling Leon Avdullahu, allowing Adam Hlozek to put Hoffenheim in front from the penalty spot.
Fernandes impresses on full debut
There was a welcome full 90 minutes for fellow midfielder Mateus Fernandes, Spurs' £85million summer signing from rivals West Ham. The Portuguese international impressed again for his new club, providing the pinpoint cross from which veteran defender Ben Davies headed home the equaliser from close range in the 20th minute following a short corner routine.
Tottenham turned things around just before half-time, when highly-rated young winger Luca Williams-Barnett fired expertly past Luca Philipp after a driving run from Pape Matar Sarr, who also returned to action on Sunday along with Rodrigo Bentancur.
Hoffenheim fight back and Spurs push for winner
Valentin Gendrey beat Brandon Austin with a volley after the break to restore parity for Hoffenheim. Kevin Danso then hit the crossbar and teenage winger Miracle Adewole almost netted late on as Spurs pushed in vain for a winning goal.
Pre-season concerns remain
While the returns of Maddison and Fernandes, plus minutes for the likes of Bentancur, Sarr, Williams-Barnett and Souza, will please Tottenham fans, the fact that none of Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie or Mohammed Kudus played at all in pre-season will be an obvious concern ahead of the clash with Brentford.
The same is also true of Dejan Kulusevski, who is making his way back in training after a knee injury that has prevented him from playing since May 2025. Dominic Solanke was absent again on Sunday along with Guglielmo Vicario, who is expected to leave Tottenham before the summer transfer deadline on September 1.
Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons are still sidelined for Spurs due to long-term injuries, while Pedro Porro did not play in pre-season due to a holiday following Spain's World Cup triumph but was back at the club earlier this week.
