Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon are facing off for the 1News party leaders' debate tonight

The pair spent the day downplaying their debating abilities.

Hipkins has admitted he doesn't have a photographic memory for facts and figures.

"One weakness, and I'll confess it now, I don't have a photographic memory when it comes to facts and figures. I have been caught out on this before, so I will spend a bit of time trying to refresh my memory on those things, but I again hope that we will focus on the substance rather than the gotcha moments which these debates can sometimes come down to."

Luxon has done a few mock debates with someone posing as his rival ahead the debate.

"It'll be a fun part of it [the campaign], but as I said last week, no disrespect, this country doesn't need a great debater, what they need is a great manager."

Again today he talked up Hipkins' 20-year experience as a debater in Parliament and says he will be doing his best to present his case to the New Zealand people.

Follow the latest updates with RNZ's liveblog:

- RNZ.