Is it a love that cannot be fulfilled?
Tottenham Hotspur will face Liverpool in the 36th round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) season at Anfield in Liverpool, England, at 0:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Tottenham is currently in fifth place with 18 wins, six draws, and 10 losses (60 points), while Liverpool is in third place with 22 wins, nine draws, and four losses (75 points).
Ahead of the match, the UK’s Mirror highlighted the relationship between Son and Jürgen Klopp. “Tottenham striker Son Heung-min has an incredible scoring record against Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp. Klopp has made no secret of his admiration for the South Korean,” the publication reported.
“Liverpool will be relieved to see Harry Kane leave,” the outlet added. Kane scored nine goals in 16 games for Liverpool against Tottenham. However, they may be equally anxious about Son Heung-min. Heung-min has scored five goals against Liverpool in his last six PL games and six goals in 14 games for Tottenham. He has also scored five goals in five games against Dortmund under Klopp.”
However, Son doesn’t have many memories of winning against Liverpool. The only two victories were a 4-1 win at Wembley in October 2017 and a 2-1 win at home to Tottenham in September last year. In 15 games against Liverpool, including one in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), Son has two wins, four draws, nine losses, six goals, and one assist.
His threatening pace and goal-scoring prowess is something Liverpool are wary of. In fact, Klopp went so far as to say in November 2021 that “one of the biggest mistakes of my life was not signing him”.
Klopp wanted to bring Son to Dortmund in 2013, but he chose Leverkusen over Dortmund. “Leverkusen and Dortmund wanted me, both teams played in the Champions League, but I thought Dortmund would rotate more than Leverkusen,” he said in a past interview with the Mirror.
“That’s why I chose Leverkusen over Dortmund. At that age, it was really important to play regularly,” he added.
But the years have passed. “Despite Klopp’s long-standing interest in Son, the German 토토 manager left Anfield this summer and, at 31, a move looks increasingly unlikely,” the Mirror writes bitterly.
Meanwhile, if Son plays in today’s game, it will be his 300th PL appearance. Son made his debut in a Tottenham shirt in August 2015 and has played at least 30 league games in every season since, except for his first season with the club.
He will become the third player to do so at Tottenham. “Son is on the verge of making his 300th PL appearance, which would make him the third player to do so after Hugo Llorente (361) and Harry Kane (317),” said Spurs Web, a Tottenham news site.