Tottenham: Son Heung-min will prove Jamie Carragher wrong after in-informed Aston Villa prediction
Jamie Carragher shouldn’t be so quick to write Tottenham off against Aston Villa.
Spurs are set to travel to Villa Park for a Premier League showdown on Sunday (10 March) which could go a long way in deciding who will be competing in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Ange Postecoglou and his players will arrive on a high after coming from behind to record a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (2 March).
Meanwhile, after scoring late to overcome Luton Town’s stubborn resilience in a 3-2 victory at Kenilworth Road (2 March), Unai Emery and his players drew 0-0 with Ajax at the John Cruyff Arena in their UEFA Europa Conference League Round of 16 first-leg tie on Thursday night (7 March).
Postecoglou’s players will arrive fresh and with a point to prove after Villa ran out 2-1 winners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the reverse fixture this season (26 November), although Sky Sports Pundit Carragher is still leaning toward a home win.
Making his predictions for this week’s Premier League action in Sky Sports’ Super Six (8 March), the ex-Liverpool defender turned pundit believes that Emery’s side will claim a 2-1 victory which would see them move eight points clear of Spurs.
However, there is one key Spurs man who could have Carragher eating his words.
Son Heung-min can be the difference-maker for Tottenham against Aston Villa at Villa Park
Son scored his first Spurs goal since New Year’s Eve against Palace after the forward spent January and some of February away from the club while he was competing at the AFC Asia Cup with South Korea.
It was a timely reminder of his quality, and what he is capable of when he has space to run into.
Spurs have struggled in recent weeks as they have hosted teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium set up in a low block and determined to frustrate the North London side. Aston Villa won’t do that.
At Villa Park, Emery will encourage his players to get forward, which could play into Postecoglou and Son’s hands.
Villa are flying high, but they also concede frequently. Since their latest Premier League clean sheet during a 5-0 win against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane (3 February), the Villans have conceded 10 goals in five matches in all competitions, with seven of those goals scored in three games at Villa Park.
They’re not known for their defensive work, having conceded 37 goals in the league this year, the most of any team in the top four, while Spurs always find a way through, having scored at least once in each of their league matches this season.
As a result, in a game which will be full of chances and space to attack, Son could have a field day which might just push Spurs to victory.
The South Korea international is one of the most lethal finishers in Europe, and the stats prove it.
As per fbref, the 31-year-old has outperformed his XG total by 0.18 goals per 90 over the past 365 days, which puts him in the top four per cent of his positional peers in Europe’s big five leagues in that time.
He has been on fire this season, with 13 league goals and six assits in 23 matches, a scoring rate of 0.62 per 90 which leaves him in the top 14 per cent of his fellow Premier League forwards this season.
Son thrives in the final third, ranking in the 99th percnetile for the number of progressive passes he has received (10.34 per 90) and 95th percentile for the number of those same type of passes he has played (4.51 per 90).
His scoring record against Aston Villa isn’t too bad either, having found the back of the net six times in eight games against the West-Midlands outfit.
Son has had joy at Villa Park before, scoring a 94th-minute winner at the ground as Spurs ran out 3-2 winners during the 2019/20 Premier League season, and if he can repeat a similar trick this weekend he will silence a lot of doubters, including Carragher.
In other Tottenham news, ex-Spurs employee Bryan King believes one big-name player at the club could be on the move this summer.
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