Tottenham need to end their five-match winless streak. With a weekend clash against Newcastle United, who are chasing them from seventh place in the Premier League, Son Heung-min is not at full fitness.
Tottenham host Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Nov. 11 for round 16 of the 2023-24 Premier League season.
They are coming off a 1-2 home loss to West Ham in Round 15 and will need to bounce back in this match.
Son Heung-min struggled for 88 minutes against West Ham. Just past the midway point of the second half, he got into a strong tussle with Vladimir Kupal and suffered a collision in the left hip area.
According to the British publication The Mirror, as Son exited the mixing zone, he said, “I’m fine.
We’ll see,” but he was in pain and had to wait for further tests.
On the 9th, Tottenham’s official website gave a glimpse into the atmosphere.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Newcastle United game, manager Enzi Postecoglou said, “I don’t have any further updates,” but added, “We’ll have to wait and see on the 10th.
There are no further injuries except for Son Heung-min.”
Captain Son Heung-min started the game against West Ham.
Behind him, Dejan Kulusevski, Giovanni Rosselso, and Brennan Johnson provided firepower.
Yves Bissouma and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg occupied the two midfield spots, with Pedro Foro at right fullback and Cristian Romero returning to partner Ben Davies after serving a three-match ban for his sending off against Chelsea.
Destiny Udogie started at left fullback, with Vicario in goal.
Despite the return of the striker, Tottenham have been plagued by an injury ward of late.
Key players van der Vaart and Maddison have gone down with injuries, leaving the core lineup shaky.
By the end of the game against Aston Villa, there were 11 departures, including the sending-off.
They also lost another available resource in the midfield.
Bentancur returned to the field after a nine-month recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered against Leicester City in the 2022-23 season, but was met with a “killer tackle” by Aston Villa defender Matty Cash.
He fell to the ground around the half-hour mark and screamed in pain as he was hit in the shin and ankle.
He remained in pain for a while and was treated by the medical team who were called in afterwards.
He tried to play on, but eventually returned to the bench.
Bentancur signaled to the Tottenham bench that he could no longer play.
Local media reported that the player was in severe pain and limped off the field, indicating that his recovery will be a long one.
Postecoglou said: “Matty Cash’s tackle was not good.
Bentancur did well against Aston Villa.
He’s a very creative player.
That’s why we scored the first goal and got off to a good start.
But Bentancur’s injury departure is something we didn’t want.
It’s very disappointing,” he said, sighing at the string of injuries.
According to the club’s official website, the injury was expected to take at least two months to recover.
It was a desperate moment for Spurs, who were unbeaten and leading the Premier League until Round 10.
The disparity in strength between the best and rotating lineups, which had been noted since the start of the season, became apparent in the 11th round.
They didn’t win a game in November.
The only consolation was a 3-3 draw against Manchester City, which was the only sign of life.
A win over West Ham would give them three points in five games.
A win would have put them level with Manchester City in fourth place on 30 points, so they needed to bounce back at home.
Son Heung-min had scored his ninth league goal in the previous match against Manchester City. He needs one more goal to reach double digits.
If Son scored against West Ham, it would be his eighth consecutive season of double-digit Premier League goals.
He has faced West Ham 17 times in all competitions, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists.
Tottenham have also won eight, drawn three and lost six against the Hammers, so the chances are good.
Son Heung-min led the Tottenham attack from the front.
Tottenham set the tone, fueled by Son’s commitment and the home crowd’s enthusiasm.
They didn’t give up the initiative easily and attacked the West Ham goal.
Ten minutes after kickoff, it looked like they had taken the lead when Christian Romero headed home a corner kick. 카지노사이트777
Son Heung-min continued to push for more goals after his team took the lead.
Whenever he got the ball in the box, he was bold enough to shoot.
His link-up play with his Tottenham teammates was also excellent.
He also rattled the West Ham defense with a threatening shot in the 17th minute.
They ended the first half with a one-goal lead, further fueling their desire for all three points.
According to the official stats, Tottenham had 77% ball possession in the first half.
They had five shots on goal and five shots on target.
One of the five shots resulted in a goal.
They had 444 passes in the first 45 minutes.
The majority of these were completed, resulting in a 92% passing success rate.
Four corner kicks were attempted and seven fouls were called.
There were no cautions.
It was a perfect start, perhaps, but West Ham never really got going.
The Hammers have been picking up steam in the UEFA Europa League, which runs concurrently with the Premier League.
With four wins and a draw in five official games, including the Europa League, the Hammers took the reins in the second half.
Tottenham’s energy level dropped in the second half.
They didn’t concede possession, but they were caught off guard by West Ham’s straightforward attack.
West Ham broke up a Tottenham attack and played the ball forward, only to find Bowen’s toe in.
The situation was in Spurs’ favor.
Tottenham had five men in the back to stop the West Ham attack, and West Ham had three, including Bowen and Coutinho, on the counterattack.
But the goddess of luck was smiling on West Ham, not Tottenham.
A Cudus shot bounced off Romero and Foro in quick succession and landed at the feet of the penetrating Bowen.
Faced with a near one-on-one opportunity with the keeper, he calmly slotted home to rattle the Tottenham net.
Bocek receives a pass from the side, and gets a shot on goal from inside the box.
Vicario made the save.
The goal was disallowed for offside. Tottenham pushed hard for a second goal, utilizing Bryan Hill and Kluczewski.
The Hammers capitalized on the Spurs pushing forward.
In the 28th minute of the second half, West Ham turned the game around.
Tottenham made a costly mistake in the buildup.
Udogie’s back pass was inaccurate and West Ham didn’t miss their prey.
After trying to press, they found themselves one-on-one with the keeper.
Ward-Prowse’s shot hit the post, but bounced back and landed at his feet, where he finished with precision.
As West Ham turned the game around, they focused on defense.
Even when Tottenham pushed forward, the Hammers were able to keep their shots away with a solid, compact defense.
Spurs needed a decisive goal, but even Son Heung-min had to leave the field in pain after a collision.
They pounded away in extra time, but the locked West Ham goal was not to be, and the goddess of victory smiled on the Hammers.
In his post-match interview, Son said, “I hope I’m okay.
There was a powerful kick to my back bone.
I haven’t checked with the club’s medical team yet.
We’ll have to see how it is.”
More than the injury, Heung-min was bitter about the team’s five-match winless streak.
“Whether we played better or not, we lost,” he said.
It is unacceptable.
We were winning.
In my opinion, losing to West Ham is unacceptable.
As players, we have to take responsibility,” he said.
“West Ham was a difficult team.
But we knew what was coming.
A one-goal lead was not enough.
We had to win this game.
It’s unacceptable.
The fans don’t deserve this result.
At 1-0, we should have had more energy and played a better game, but we didn’t.
This is why we lost,” he said, calling for focus.
He warned that the team was in a good mood after scoring the first goal and that this shouldn’t happen in the future.
“If we have a chance to win the game, we need to do better.
The strikers, including me, had chances to score more goals and finish the game.
I feel responsible.
I know it’s really sad and disappointing for the fans to lose today. We have to recover quickly.
We lost today, but we have to move forward and play again.”
Local media outlets also conveyed the tone of the interview, saying, “Son Heung-min was soft-spoken, but he lashed out at his Tottenham teammates.”
Postecoglou was no different.
After losing 1-2 at home to West Ham, he said, “We were controlling the game well.
It was a game where we should have scored more goals.
We created a lot of scoring chances.
But we lacked confidence in the box and conceded two goals.
It was self-inflicted.
It’s a very disappointing result.”
