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How Hoffenheim friendly proves Kevin Danso can still have impactful role for Tottenham Kevin Danso will be fearing his Tottenham minutes this season. The Austrian defender has plenty of competition within the squad and with Roberto De Zerbi showing early signs of a four-man defence, there are less places to compete for. The arrivals of Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi have not made life easier for the 27-year-old, meanwhile Micky van de Ven has recently signed a new contract. With Spurs out of Europe, there will be fewer games and less need for De Zerbi to rotate his squad. However, in Spurs' friendly, Danso proved he may have plenty left to give Tottenham ahead of the 2026-2027 season. And that could provide hope yet for the Austrian international. How did Kevin Danso perform against Hoffenheim? Tottenham have finished pre-season with an unbeaten record and that will boost confidence ahead of the new season. As the Lilywhites took on Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim in their final friendly, De Zerbi opted to use a squad filled with youth and fringe players. The two exceptions were Mateus Fernandes and James Maddison who were in need of minutes following a reduced pre-season involvement. However, one man who truly stepped up in the 2-2 draw on 16 August was centre-back Danso. The Austrian played the full 90 minutes, and he proved to be a colossus. Danso won 100 per cent of all his duels. He won four aerial duels and five ground duels, while making six defensive contributions as well. That included one tackle, two interceptions and three clearances as per Sofascore. Additionally, when it came to his ball-playing, a quality De Zerbi likes to see from his defenders, he kept a 93 per cent accuracy. While that performance is unlikely to move the needle for the 27-year-old, it does prove that when called upon, Danso can be a solid option. And if Spurs' injury issues from the previous seasons continues, that would be a significant boost. Who should start for Tottenham at centre-back in the opening Premier League game? This was the second game in two days against Hoffenheim, with the first ending in a 3-0 win for the Lilywhites. In that game, it was Senesi and van Hecke who partnered at the back. Van de Ven has yet to play a minute in pre-season, so it would be a risk to plunge him straight into the action against Brentford on 22 August. So, the line-up against that first game could very well be the duo that De Zerbi uses in his back-four, and Danso could be waiting in the wings to deputise if needed. However, he may need to wait for the cup games to get another full-fledged audition in front of his manager.