Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min could earn a slice of Premier League history when the Lilywhites lock horns with Southampton in Saturday's top-flight battle at St Mary's.
The 30-year-old's powers have waned during a challenging 2022-23 season for Antonio Conte's side, but he has still managed 10 goals and three assists from 36 appearances in all tournaments.
Son has struck six goals in 25 Premier League contests, but four of those efforts have come as a substitute, including a 13-minute hat-trick against Leicester City back in October.
The South Korea international has just two top-flight strikes to his name from the first whistle this season, although one of those came in last weekend's 3-1 success over Nottingham Forest.
Son will now be expected to keep his place in the first XI for Saturday's trip to Southampton, and he needs just one more goal to hit a personal and Premier League milestone.
© Reuters
Should Son make the net ripple at St Mary's, the attacker will bring up 100 Premier League goals, having struck his 99th in the win over Forest last weekend.
No Asian player has ever scored 100 Premier League goals before, and the ex-Bayer Leverkusen man has also provided 55 assists in his 257 English top-flight games so far.
Son has seldom been able to link up with deadly double act partner Harry Kane this season, but Spurs' all-time record goalscorer is no stranger to success against Southampton and will no doubt aid the South Korea international in his quest.
Kane has a total of 11 goals and six assists to show from 15 Premier League games against Southampton - only against Leicester City does he have more top-flight contributions - and his future was unsurprisingly a major talking point in Conte's pre-game press conference.
The England captain is out of contract in 2024 as Manchester United and Bayern Munich monitor developments, but Conte believes that Spurs want to keep hold of his services for the rest of his career.
© Reuters
"For sure, the club wants to involve Harry Kane for the rest of his career in my opinion. Because when you have this type of player, a world class striker like him, for sure you want him to stay here for the rest of his career," Conte told the press.
"But then you know football, you know football. Sometimes it's unpredictable but I think it's not in my task to make a decision. This is a decision for the club and for Harry."
Spurs hold a four-point advantage over Newcastle United in the final Champions League spot - albeit having played two games more - but Conte's side have not been away-day specialists in recent weeks, losing each of their last four on the road in all tournaments.
Leicester City, AC Milan, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers have all sent Spurs back to North London empty-handed recently, and not since May 2019 have the Lilywhites lost five successive away games.
Meanwhile, having gone down 1-0 to Milan, Sheffield United and Wolves, Spurs are also at risk of losing four successive away games without scoring for the first time in 40 years, having also suffered such a miserable streak in January 1983.
No Data Analysis info
