Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min could be back in the ranks for Sunday's Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The South Korea international has been absent for the past few weeks due to a thigh injury, but Ange Postecoglou is confident that he will be able to shake off the issue in time to start on Sunday.
Son's return to the frontline would be a major boost to Spurs' chances of success against Villa, who have often been haunted by the former Bayer Leverkusen man in the past.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at Son'a record against Aston Villa.
Son Heung-min's record vs. Aston Villa
© Imago
Played: 9
Won: 5
Drawn: 0
Lost: 4
Goals: 7
Assists: 3
If Son is given the green light to pit his wits against Villa on Sunday, the South Korea international will be facing the Lions for the 10th time in all competitions, and he already boasts more goal contributions than he does appearances against them.
Indeed, the South Korea captain has been directly involved in 10 efforts from nine meetings with Villa - seven of his own and three assists - although he has only been on the winning side in five of those battles, losing on another four occasions.
However, rather than being a constant menace against Villa, Son has built up his stellar record in this fixture through a few individual masterclasses, including at Villa Park in March 2024.
On that day, the Tottenham skipper scored one of his own and set up two more in a 4-0 thrashing, prior to which he had failed to score or assist in three straight games against the Lions, all of which saw Spurs suffer defeat.
In the 2021-22 season, though, Son made Villa Park his playground once again, scoring a brilliant hat-trick in a 4-0 romping of the West Midlands side after providing an assist for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in a 2-1 home triumph.
Son remarkably had to wait until the 2019-20 season to face Villa in the Premier League - missing previous games through injury and suspension either side of the Lions' relegation to the Championship - but he quickly made his mark with a pivotal brace in that 2-0 victory.
The attacker's maiden appearance in this fixture actually came in a 2016-17 FA Cup third-round showdown, where he doubled Tottenham's advantage in a 2-0 victory after Ben Davies had opened the scoring.
With seven goals to his name against Villa, Son is the fifth-highest documented scorer in matches between Tottenham and the Lions, only behind Bobby Smith (12), Jimmy Greaves (nine), Harry Kane and Mark Falco (both eight).
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