Son Heung-min (33, Tottenham) will lead the line in an all-important North London derby.
Tottenham will face Arsenal in the 35th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on Sunday (Aug. 28). Son Heung-min will be back in the starting lineup and will be looking for a win.
Arsenal defeated Chelsea 5-0 on Thursday in the 29th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League. The victory brought Arsenal to 77 points (24 wins, 5 draws, and 5 losses), moving the Gunners ahead of second-place Liverpool (74 points from 34 games) and third-place Manchester City (73 points from 32 games).
However, Manchester City has played fewer games. Looking at Arsenal’s remaining schedule, there’s a good chance that the North London derby will be their toughest game. On the other hand, Tottenham’s situation is not easy either. With 60 points (18 wins, 6 draws, and 8 losses) after two fewer games, they are six points behind Aston Villa (66 points).
Add to that the fact that Tottenham are also behind in goal difference (Aston Villa +21, Tottenham +16) due to their blowout loss to Newcastle (0-4). The club’s fifth-place finish in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) is also in doubt. With both Man City and Arsenal out of the PL, the Bundesliga is second to Serie A in the race for five UCL spots.
As a result, Tottenham must win to keep their UCL hopes alive. With six games remaining, they need to win as many of them as they can and still have a shot at fourth place. The problem is, the schedule isn’t easy, so it’s going to be a tough road.
Not only did they collapse in the first game of a hellish four-game stretch (a 0-4 loss to Newcastle), but the rest of the schedule is also very tough, with games against Arsenal, Chelsea (away), and Liverpool (away). Spurs will need to bounce back from the Newcastle loss and get back on track against Arsenal. For Arsenal, it’s a must-win game to keep their title hopes alive.
As the stakes get higher and higher, Tottenham are counting on Son Heung-min’s toes. With 15 goals and nine assists this season, he has been the alpha and omega of Spurs’ offense. Leading Spurs in the absence of Harry Kane, one more assist would give him 10 goals and 10 assists in the league for the third time in his career.
Only five other players have reached the 10-goal, 10-assist mark in the Premier League at least three times: Wayne Rooney (five times), Eric Cantona (four times), Frank Lampard (four times), Didier Drogba (three times), and Mohamed Salah (three times). What’s more, this will be Son Heung-min’s 20th North London derby.
Since joining the club in the 2015-2016 season, Son has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 19 appearances against Arsenal. In league terms, his six 카지노사이트 goals against the Gunners ranks fourth on the all-time Premier League North London derby goalscoring list. Harry Kane tops the list with 14 goals.
In particular, he has scored multiple goals against Arsenal this season. If he continues his momentum and scores two more goals, he will join Arsenal legend Roberto Pires, who has eight. This personal record, coupled with the team’s performance, made the game all the more important.
Son Heung-min, who spoke at a press conference the day before, was also fired up: “Arsenal is a great test. They are the best team in the world. It’s a perfect test for us. We’ve always had a good rivalry with Arsenal,” he said, adding, “It doesn’t matter who scores the goal or if I scored before. We just want to win,” he concluded.
As expected before kickoff, Tottenham lined up with Son Heung-min in the center of the attack, with Timo Werner, James Maddison, and Dejan Kuluczewski leading the line. In the midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur-Pierre Hoiberg will start. The back four is Ben Davies-Micky van der Penn-Christian Romero-Pedro Foro.