Son Heung-min, who wears the “captain’s armband” of the South Korean national soccer team and Tottenham in the English Premier League (EPL), will rattle the Chelsea net for the first time in five years.
Tottenham will host Chelsea in the 11th home game of the 2023-2024 EPL season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on July 7 at 5:00 a.m. (ET).레모나토토 도메인
Spurs have gotten off to an incredible start this season. They are unbeaten in their opening 10 games (W8 D2 L26) and sit atop the standings. They are two points behind second-place Arsenal (24).
Son is on shaky ground. He was widely expected to struggle this season following the departure of his best friend, striker Harry Kane, to Bayern Munich (Germany), but a record-breaking early season goal race has propelled Tottenham to the top of the table.
With eight goals (one assist) this season, Son is tied for second in EPL scoring behind Elling Holland (Manchester City-11) and ahead of Mohamed Salah (Liverpool-8).
He has been responsible for more than a third of Tottenham’s team goals (22) in 10 league games.
His goal-scoring pace is better than his 2021-2022 season, when he became the first Asian player to lead the EPL with 23 total goals.
At the time, Son had only scored four goals through the 10th round of the league, but a four-game scoring streak from the 14th round onward sparked a mid-to-late-season scoring surge.
Another thing is that he is leading the line alone, unlike the previous season when he shared the scoring with Kane.
While Son’s selfless play has helped set up teammates like James Maddison and Dejan Kulusebski, he hasn’t hesitated to step up to the plate in crucial situations.
Tottenham manager Anzhi Postecoglou has compared Son to Cristiano Ronaldo (Alnasr) at Manchester United and expects him to score more goals than he has in the past.
Having recently tasted back-to-back goals in the ninth round against Fulham (one goal, one assist) and the 10th round against Crystal Palace (one goal), Son will be looking for his third consecutive league goal against Chelsea.
Son’s last appearance in a Tottenham shirt in 2015 was not a strong one against Chelsea. In 14 meetings in the EPL, he scored two goals.
He scored his first goal against Chelsea in May 2016 and his second in November 2018. He hasn’t scored against Chelsea in five years.
Coincidentally, Chelsea’s manager is Mauricio Pochettino, who signed Son from Tottenham. Pochettino knows Son better than anyone, so expect him to be heavily defended.
However, Chelsea’s performance this season has been underwhelming. After 10 rounds, they are in 11th place in the league (12 points). Their recent form has been shaky, with a 0-2 loss to Brentford in the league.