Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min is set to lead his team out against Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Sunday, ahead of facing one of his favourite opponents.
Since arriving in English football a decade ago, few clubs have been on the receiving end of quite so many moments of brilliance from the South Korean as Everton have, and that has continued consistently during his time in North London.
Here, Sports Mole looks back at Son's career record against the Toffees.
© Imago
Son Heung-min's record vs. Everton
Played: 15
Won: 8
Drawn: 5
Lost: 2
Goals: 7
Assists: 6
Red Cards: 1
While Son joined Spurs in the summer of 2015, he did not really face Everton for another two years, making just one brief substitute appearance against them in his first couple of seasons at the club.
Since then, Everton quickly became a favoured opponent of his, scoring in numerous successes as Spurs became a real bogey team for Everton, who have not won against the Lilywhites in front of a crowd since 2012.
Only against West Ham, Southampton and Leicester City has Son racked up more goals and assists than he has against Everton, but he has faced those three opponents on more occasions.
Son's first notable performance against Everton came at Wembley in January 2018, when Sam Allardyce's side were thumped 4-0, with the Korean netting the opener, before setting up Harry Kane for the second goal on their way to a routine victory.
Possibly his best performance against Everton came the following season though, two days before Christmas, scoring twice and setting up another in a 6-2 thrashing at Goodison Park, when Spurs would eventually finish third.
Son was suspended when the clubs met on the final day of that campaign after lashing out against Bournemouth, and he would be sent off again at Goodison Park a few months later.
When the two clubs met late in Mauricio Pochettino's reign in November 2019, Son set up Dele Alli for the opener at Goodison, but was then sent off for committing the tackle that caused Andre Gomes to break his leg, and that was also costly to Spurs, as Cenk Tosun's late strike denied them the win.
Behind-closed-doors football did not go well for Spurs in this fixture, losing at home to the Toffees in the league for the first time in over a decade, and they also went out of the FA Cup in dramatic fashion that same season.
In a tense fifth-round tie, Everton eventually won 5-4, despite the best efforts of Son, who assisted three goals at Goodison that night, but was unable to guide his team into the quarter-finals.
Son's fine record in the fixture has continued though, scoring in three of the last four meetings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, including twice in a 4-0 win in August 2024.
Andrew Delaney
