Tottenham and Chelsea have confirmed that they will play each other in pre-season next summer, but several big guns may be missing for both sides.
Tottenham played Arsenal during their pre-season tour of Asia last summer, which was the first time a North London derby had been played outside UK soil.
The game, which was played in Hong Kong, ended in a 1-0 win for Spurs, owing to a spectacular Pape Sarr goal from the halfway line.
It has now been confirmed that the Lilywhites will be facing another one of their big rivals during their next pre-season campaign, with Tottenham and Chelsea set to lock horns next summer.
Why several Tottenham players will not face Chelsea in pre-season
Chelsea will take on Tottenham Hotspur in pre-season as part of the Sydney Super Cup. The tournament, which will be played in Australia, will also involve two local sides: Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC.
However, strangely, the tournament kicks off just 13 days after the final of the FIFA World Cup final in New York City.
17 Tottenham players have already qualified for the World Cup, and if any of their nations go far in the tournament, they may be unavailable for the London derby in pre-season.
This is because players are generally given a minimum of a three-week break after major tournaments before they report to pre-season.
Should derbies be played in pre-season?
Playing these kinds of big derbies in pre-season takes away the sanctity and meaning of those fixtures, and it is not something that either set of fans will be particularly thrilled about.
Some traditions of the game are slowly being eroded due to the commercial desires of club owners.
However, given the FFP and PSR realities nowadays, teams cannot be faulted for trying to maximise their commercial revenue by any means possible, and this game does provide a chance for fans on the other end of the globe to watch their clubs in the flesh.