Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min should be recalled to the Lilywhites' first XI when they pit their wits against Chelsea in Sunday's Premier League London derby.
The South Korea international started on the bench in Thursday's clash with Bournemouth, and despite being brought on before the hour mark, he could not prevent Ange Postecoglou's men from slumping to a 1-0 defeat.
That deserved loss on the South Coast left Tottenham in an unremarkable 10th place in the Premier League standings, and Son has now failed to find the back of the net in each of his last five top-flight appearances for the Lilywhites.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Son's record against the Blues ahead of Sunday's Premier League derby.
Son Heung-min record vs. Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min and Chelsea's Marcos Alonso pictured on February 2, 2021© IconSport
Played: 19
Won: 5
Drawn: 4
Lost: 10
Goals: 2
Assists: 0
If Son takes to the field on Sunday afternoon, it will mark the 20th time that the Tottenham Hotspur captain has taken on Chelsea, but his powers often wane whenever he squares up to the Blues.
Indeed, from 19 previous appearances against the Lilywhites, Son has only managed a paltry two goals and no assists; in fact, he has been sent off against Chelsea more times than he has set up a teammate against them.
The South Korea international has also been involved in just five Tottenham victories against Chelsea, who have beaten Spurs in 10 of the 19 games where Son has been present, and he has shaken hands on a draw with the Blues four times.
Both of Son's goals for Tottenham against Chelsea have come in the Premier League, but out of every English top-flight club that the forward has played at least 1,000 minutes against, the Blues are the team he has statistically performed worst against.
Son's Premier League minutes-per-goal ratio versus the Blues is a dismal one strike every 531 minutes, and one of those efforts came in his debut Spurs season in 2015-16, netting the Lilywhites second in the 'Battle of the Bridge' before Chelsea's comeback ended Tottenham's title chances.
A couple of years later, Son scored his second and most recent goal against the Blues, helping Tottenham to a 3-1 win over Chelsea at Wembley in November 2018 before his disheartening drought began.
Including cup matches, Son has failed to score or assist in his last 11 appearances against Chelsea, playing the full 90 in both Premier League meetings during the 2023-24 campaign but falling to defeat on both occasions.
The former Bayer Leverkusen man was also given his third red card of 2019 - one of which was later rescinded - in a 2-0 home loss to Chelsea, where he was dismissed for kicking out at ex-Blues defender Antonio Rudiger.
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