In 11 days, Tottenham squares off against Manchester United in their opening match of the English Premier League and the side still faces some nagging questions. The starting eleven isn't yet set, keeper Hugo Lloris has just healed a broken wrist, and everyone at White Hart Lane wants to know if Harry Kane is going to continue at the level seen last season. 

To secure a spot in the Champions League, Mauricio Pochettino wants to begin the season in top form and tonight's match in Denver is a large part of that strategy. 

The fact that this will be our only fixture outside of Europe during pre-season says a lot about how we view this game, Pochettino said. We enjoyed three tough matches last summer in North America and the quality of football in MLS continues to grow every year.

Tottenham has one of the largest US supporter bases of any of the Premier League teams and in the last few seasons they have toured heavily in Asia and North America to support those fans and increase awareness in the Spurs brand. Some in England have criticized the tours citing that they took time away from important pre-season preparation and in March Pochettino seemed to agree announcing that the team would forego the touring abroad this year in order to more fully prepare for the upcoming season. 

And that preparation continues tonight as they take on the MLS All-Stars before heading back to Europe to face Real Madrid and either Bayern Munich or AC Milan in the Audi Cup next week. It's an opportunity for the squad to test themselves against players who are now playing at their mid-season fitness levels. 

It's going to be a tough game and that's what we want, Kane said on Monday. It's not far now until the start of the season and we need to be testing ourselves and seeing how fit we are.

It's also a chance for DeAndre Yedlin, who was acquired by Tottenham from Seattle and Major League Soccer in January, to show what he can do as he tries to secure a spot on the roster. 

"I think DeAndre is very young, he has very good potential for the future," Pochettino said as reported by London 24.

"He joined us in the middle of last season and I think he has an opportunity now to show his value and try to convince me to stay next season. It is like other players, he has the same opportunity to show his quality and maybe, why not, stay in the squad for the next season to compete in the Premier League."

And that is why, even though the match is considered a "friendly", for the Spurs and DeAndre Yedlin it will be anything but.