Will Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan upset the Premier League scoring charts in the Korean derby?
Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers will meet in the 12th round of the 2023/24 Premier League at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, on Nov. 11 at 9:30 p.m. ET. The two teams, who lost side-by-side in the previous round, sit in second and 14th place respectively.레모나토토
Tottenham were leading the league with eight wins, two draws, and no defeats in their opening 10 games, but they suffered their first defeat of the season in the last round, losing 1-4 to Chelsea. They lost the top spot to Manchester City and dropped to second place. Wolverhampton also continued their disappointing run of form, falling 1-2 to last-place Sheffield United. This is a must-win game for Tottenham to stay in contention at the top of the table, and for Wolverhampton to move into mid-table.
This game will also be the first meeting of the season between two South Korean players, Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan. Both players have been outstanding this season. They’ve scored so many goals that their names appear at the top of the Premier League scoring charts. Son Heung-min is tied for second with Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah with eight goals. Hwang Hee-chan is tied for sixth with six goals. A goal in this matchup could shake up the scoring charts.
At the top of the list is Manchester City’s monster striker, Elling Holland. He’s scored 11 goals in 11 league games. He was silent against Newcastle United in round 2, Wolverhampton in round 7, Arsenal in round 8, and Bournemouth in round 11, but he scored 11 goals in the remaining seven games.
Tied for second with Son Heung-min, Salah has been a consistent scorer. He scored a brace against Bournemouth in Round 2, followed by one against Aston Villa in Round 4 and another against West Ham United in Round 6. From Rounds 8 through 10, he scored in three consecutive games against Brighton, Everton, and Nottingham Forest. His goal-scoring prowess was at its peak in the two games against Brighton and Everton. He was silent against Luton Town last time out.
Son Heung-min has also rediscovered his goalscoring touch after moving to a central striker role. After a disappointing opening game against Brentford, where he gave away a penalty, Heung-min played as a flanker in the 2-0 win over Manchester United. He also played as a flanker against Bournemouth in the third leg, but it wasn’t until the fourth leg against Burnley that he started to play up front.
Against Burnley, Heung-min scored his first and third goals of the season, completely erasing last season’s struggles. Trailing 0-1 in the 16th minute, he took a pass from left flanker Manor Solomon and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper before slotting home a key chip to equalize. He then added two more goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick, completely erasing the disappointment of not scoring in the previous three rounds.
He was held scoreless in the next match against Sheffield Wednesday, but found the back of the net once again against Arsenal. Son Heung-min scored twice to level the score after each of his team’s concessions, helping the Gunners to a point against Arsenal.
The scoring continued against Liverpool. Playing up front again, Heung-min opened the scoring in the 36th minute when Maddison played a pass into the box after seeing a run in from Philippe Coutinho, and Coutinho sent in a cross that Heung-min, who was rushing to the front of the box, easily turned and rattled the Liverpool net.
After a goal drought at the start of October, Son showed his goal-scoring instincts again against Fulham in his first game since the October A-match period. In the 36th minute, a pass from the front of the opposition’s penalty box was intercepted by Van der Vaart, and after the ball was cleared off the line, it was passed to Heung-Min Son in the box. Heung-min spun straight between the defenses and rattled the Fulham net with a sharp right-footed curling kick. It was the second goal in as many games for the duo since their last match against Liverpool. Heung-min also scored against Crystal Palace in Round 10, showing off his burgeoning goal-scoring form.
Son Heung-min also won his fourth career Player of the Month award for his September performance. His six goals in four games in September earned him a spot on the Premier League’s shortlist of seven finalists for the EA Sports Player of the Month for September 2023, beating out fellow nominees Julian Alvarez, Pedro Neto, and Mohamed Salah.
The award puts him in the company of world-class players. This is the third time Son has won the award in three years, having won it in October 2020. With his fourth award, Heung-min joins the likes of Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Lampard, and other hugely acclaimed legends in Premier League history.
He was also named Tottenham’s Goal of the Month for October. After winning the award for his goal against Palace, Son celebrated for the second month in a row.
Behind Son are West Ham striker Jared Bowen and Newcastle striker Callum Wilson. Both players have scored seven goals so far. They are just one goal behind Son. He needs to score against Wolverhampton to close the gap between them.
Not far behind Bowen and Wilson is Hwang Hee-chan. He has six goals and is only one goal behind them. He’s in the same league as Newcastle striker Alexander Isaacs and Brentford striker Brian Mbemo, so he’ll be hoping to change that with a goal against Tottenham.
Expectations are high for Hwang. He has been the team’s top scorer this season and has been an indispensable fixer. Through 11 league games, he has six goals and two assists, making him the most prolific attacker since joining the club.
After coming off the bench in the opening game against Manchester United under new manager Gary O’Neill, Hwang made his mark with an impressive performance in front of a world-class United defense. Hwang had to settle for a left-footed shot at the near post in second-half stoppage time, but it deflected off Wan-Bissaka’s foot and hit the side netting.
His first goal of the season came quickly, scoring at home against Brighton in the second round of the league last August. It was a disappointing 1-4 defeat, but it was the only goal of the game and showed promise.
As Hwang gradually got his chance, he scored in two consecutive games in the fourth and fifth rounds. He scored headers against Crystal Palace and Liverpool, showing his goal-scoring prowess at its peak. However, he had to swallow his disappointment as Wolverhampton lost both games.
Hwang, who made his comeback against Palace after a short layoff following a nagging hamstring injury, came on as a 15th-minute substitute in the second half and scored five minutes later.
After opening the scoring against Brighton with a header just five minutes after coming on, Hwang continued to show that he is Wolverhampton’s new weapon with a header just five minutes after coming on.
Against Liverpool, he started and exploded for a goal in the seventh minute. Although the team lost 1-3, Hwang’s performance was worthy of applause.
In the seventh round against Manchester City, Hwang’s name was announced to the world. After scoring three goals in the run-up to the game, Hwang had emerged as a key player for Wolverhampton and caught the eye of Man City manager Pep Guardiola. When Guardiola was talking about players to watch out for before the game, he forgot Hwang’s name and referred to him as “The Korean Guy”.
Guardiola’s ignorance of Hwang’s name turned out to be an opportunity. Hwang scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Man City and became the hero of the match. Guardiola, and the rest of the world, recognized Hwang’s name as Hee Chan, not Korean Guy.
Hwang’s performance didn’t go unnoticed by his nemesis, Pep Guardiola. In his post-match press conference, Guardiola congratulated Wolverhampton on their win, pronouncing the name clearly as “Hwang”.
“It’s dangerous to allow players like Hwang and Mateusz Cunha to break through after the ball has been passed to them,” Guardiola said, “I’ve warned them enough.” “(Wolverhampton’s players) are strong,” he added, applauding the winner.
After scoring in the eighth round against Aston Villa to draw 1-1, Hwang was named the Premier League’s player with the highest goal conversion rate. In the match against Newcastle, he scored the equalizer with a fantastic shot-painting to draw the game 2-2. With this goal, Hwang became the first player in club history to score in six consecutive home games. He also became the team’s top scorer.
Against Tottenham, Hwang will look to reach double-digit attacking points in a season for the first time since joining Wolverhampton. He has six goals and two assists in the league and one in the League Cup this season, giving him a team-high nine assists.
Son Heung-min, who has 111 Premier League goals in his career, will also be looking to score double figures in the league for the eighth consecutive season. He joined Tottenham in 2015/16 and has been a consistent double-digit scorer since 2016/`7. Two more goals against Wolverhampton would put him alongside the likes of Thierry Henry and Sadio Mane.