Will Son Heung-min score debut goal in Premier League on Sunday?

Son Heung-min (23), who moved from Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga to Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, will play his EPL debut match in an away match against Sunderland, which will take place 9:30 p.m., Sunday (Korea time).

When the process for Son’s transfer was in the final stage, Tottenham’s coach Mauricio Pochettino (43) said, “I wish to deploy Son Heung-min immediately, starting with the fifth round (match against Sunderland).” Tottenham ranked fifth overall in the last season, but has had no win until this season’s fourth round, and is lagging behind at 16th place overall with three draws and one loss. Hence, it cannot afford to give time for adaptation even to a player who is newly joining. As its frontier striker Harry Kane (22), who scored 21 goals to rank No. 2 in score tally overall in the league last season, has not displayed his scoring capacity just yet this season, the coach has no choice but to pin his hope on Son. Tottenham also presented a photo of Son engaged in training on its website on Friday, sending signals that Son will play as a starting member in the match against Sunderland.

Attention is also focusing on whether Son will be able to score a goal at his debut match in the EPL. Son has been strong in debut matches thus far. Son, then a member of Hamburg, scored a goal in his Bundesliga debut match against Cologne on March 31, 2010. He touched the ball with his right foot before shooting with his left foot to the goal. The shot, which scaled over the height of the opponent team’s goalie, ranked fourth among the best 10 debut goals at the time.

Son also scored a goal in his debut match with Leverkusen. After moving from Hamburg to Leverkusen, Son scored a goal in the match against SV Lippstadt, a fourth-grade league team, at the Pokal Cup or the German Football Association (FA) cup. One week later on August 10, he also scored a goal in his first Bundesliga match as a Leverkusen player against Freibrug.

Son seems to be facing the optimum team as an opponent for his EPL debut match. Sunderland is the bottom in the league this season. Notably, Sunderland has so sloppy defense that it allowed 10 goals, the most among EPL’s 20 teams, as of the fourth round. In an interview with the U.K.’s ‘Daily Mail’ newspaper on Thursday, Son said “I am a striker, and I must display my capability by scoring goals,” revealing his strong ambition to score at his debut match in the EPL.