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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. |
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Son Heung-min is running again. He will start against Aston Villa.
Tottenham will play the 10th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2024-2025 season against Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, at 11 p.m. on the 3rd (Korea time). It is a meeting between Tottenham, ranked 10th with 13 points, and Villa, ranked 5th with 18 points.
Son's October was not easy. Son Heung-min, who suffered a hamstring injury in the match against Caravac FK in late September, has not played in five consecutive games, including the A-match in October. Tottenham, without Son Heung-min, had a lot of ups and downs, although Brennan Johnson worked hard.
Son Heung-min returned from injury for the first time in three weeks on the 19th. In his return match, Son Heung-min also showed who Tottenham's king was. He led West Ham United to a 4-1 victory with a perfect performance including a come-from-behind goal, an own goal induction, and a return shot.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. |
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Son Heung-min's performance was expected to continue in October, but it was a bolt out of the blue. Son Heung-min got hurt again. Is it because he was a little early to return to the match against West Ham. Son Heung-min has a problem with his hamstring again. Although it was not an injury, Son Heung-min felt uncomfortable with his hamstring, and coach Enze Postecoglou decided to manage the ace's physical condition.
Son Heung-min could not be seen again from the match against AZ Alkmaar, who tried to rest from the beginning. In Crystal Palace away, Tottenham suffered a shock 0-1 defeat as they reduced the absence of a fixer. It was no exaggeration to say that it was the worst performance since Postecoglou took office.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. |
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There was a hope that Son Heung-min could play ahead of the Carabao Cup round of 16 against Manchester City. This is because Postecoglou said Son Heung-min could return to training soon. However, Son Heung-min did not return with his uniform on. Son Heung-min was in a physical condition to play, but he could go overboard and come back, so the match against Manchester City was watched in plain clothes.
Ahead of the upcoming match against Villa, Postecoglou said, "(Son Heung-min conducted training. If I finish my training well tomorrow, I'll be fine", signaling Son Heung-min's return. Tottenham's official channel also posted a series of photos and videos related to Son Heung-min, leaving hints about the captain's return.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. |
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Son Heung-min started as expected. Tottenham prepared for a 4-2-3-1 formation. Dominic Solanke went to the front line. Son Heung-min, Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski, who wore captain's armbands, were in the second line. Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr were located in the centre. Destiny Udogi, Radu Dragusin, Christian Romero and Pedro Porro made up the defense. The goal was also defended by Guglielmo Vicario.
James Maddison, Hisalisson, Timo Werner, Maimie Moore, Lucas Babal, Yves Bissouma, Archie Gray, Ben Davies and Fraser Forster stand by on the bench. It was amazing that Madison went down to the bench.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. Photo = Tottenham |
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Against this, Villa started Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey, Yuri Tillemence, Amadou Onana, John McGinn, Luca Dinho, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Matt Cash and Emiliano Martinez.
Son Heung-min's return is truly a blessing for Tottenham. This is because there is a record that Son Heung-min will win against Villa unconditionally if he scores an offensive point. After his move to Tottenham, Son Heung-min met Villa nine times. He has met nine times and won five times, all of which have scored offensive points in winning matches. All four other games have been lost, but Son Heung-min has no offensive points at this time. Villa can win only when Son Heung-min plays well.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. Photo = Tottenham |
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What is somewhat worrisome is Son Heung-min's sense of play. Son Heung-min played 70 minutes against West Ham for more than a month since the match against Carabac, when he first suffered a hamstring injury. I would have played a practice game in training, but my sense of play would have been somewhat reduced. The same goes for zero shooting. It seems important to quickly find a sense of shooting at the beginning of the game.
It's a game Tottenham must win, but Villa is in a better atmosphere just by looking at the flow. After transitioning to Unai Emery's system, Villa are showing enough power to aim for the top four in the league. Villa, which surpassed Tottenham last season and qualified for the UEFA Champions League (UCL), are aiming to reach the top four again this season.
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| Tottenham No. 7 Son Heung-min is back. Son Heung-min will start against Aston Villa. It is his return match after four games against West Ham United on the 19th. Meanwhile, Tottenham vice-captain James Maddison has been excluded from the starting list. |
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John Duran and Onana are playing well, centering on Watkins, the ace of last season. In the previous match against Palace, he was beaten 1-2 and hit, but the atmosphere was really good with 11 undefeated matches (8 wins and 3 draws) before then. Tottenham is never an easy opponent to see.
If Tottenham wins this match, they can even look at the top seven in the league. It can narrow the gap with the fourth place to two points, so it is seventh place, but it can look upward enough. However, if it loses, it is expected to fall in the middle and lower ranks. If the ranking is below the top 10 after the 10th round of the league, public opinion toward Postecoglou will not be able to improve.
rlaeotlr2024@sportschosun.com
