Son Heung-min might well find himself on the bench for Tottenham in Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham.
Son has failed to hit the same heights as he scaled last season, scoring eight times across all competitions.
He struggled to make an impact in successive defeats to Leicester City and Milan, and Cristian Stellini – who is standing in for Antonio Conte as the Spurs head coach recovers from gallbladder surgery – hinted the South Korea forward might not start against the Hammers.
“Every time when you pick the team, you have to leave someone on the bench and normally it is not important the player you have to maybe leave on the bench, it is about the team that has to play,” Stellini said.”It is important also that some important players stay on the bench and give their effort when they come in. This is very important.
“We have experience with Sonny, we have experience with Richarlison, we have experienced with Deki Kulusevski from the bench they change the game. If he needs to play sometimes, also he needs to rest because we have a tough fixture (list). We have a tough moment and we play many times. Sometimes you have to change the player and also to perform better.”
Spurs have big-money signing Richarlison, who is yet to score a league goal this season, in reserve, and the Brazil attacker is raring to go.
“We missed Richy, in the best moment we had him at the start of the season he was a player who changed our game,” said Stellini. “He changed the pace of the game during the game and when he started. He scored two goals in the Champions League and that was important.
“We’ve lost him sometimes and we have to accept it and work to have him back at the top and his performance now I think could be good.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tottenham – Richarlison
Richarlison scored three times for Brazil at the World Cup but has not started a game since the season restarted. The former Everton forward has only scored once against West Ham in the Premier League, back in the 2017-18 season when he was at Watford.
West Ham – Michail Antonio
Four of West Ham’s last five Premier League victories against Tottenham have seen Michail Antonio score, with the Jamaican netting in three different 1-0 victories in that run. No player has ever scored in four different 1-0 victories against a specific opponent in Premier League history.
KEY OPTA FACTS
– Tottenham have scored more goals from corners than any other side in the Premier League this season (11). However, West Ham are the only side so far yet to concede a goal from a corner this term.
– No player has scored either the opening goal (seven) or the winning goal (eight) in more different Premier League games this season than Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
– Tottenham have scored a league-low share 36% of their Premier League goals in the first half of games this season (15/42), while only Bournemouth (24) and Southampton (20) have conceded more often before half-time than Spurs (18).
– West Ham have taken five points from their last three Premier League games (W1 D2), as many as they had won in their previous 10 (W1 D2 L7). The Hammers have come from behind to draw their last two league games (1-1 vs Newcastle United and Chelsea).
– Only once in the last eight seasons have West Ham avoided defeat in both Premier League meetings with Tottenham, doing so in 2020-21. In that campaign, they came from 3-0 down in the last 10 minutes to draw 3-3 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
