After Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Bournemouth in the Premier League on December 31, captain Son Heung-min will depart to represent South Korea in the Asian Cup.
Since Harry Kane’s summer departure, the 31-year-old has been playing as a central striker and has scored 10 goals in 15 Premier League appearances.
But at the beginning of 2024, manager Ange Postecoglou will be without his captain for a while, possibly missing five games.
The Asian Cup takes place from January 12 to February 10, with South Korea being one of the favorites to advance far in the tournament.
On January 6, Son’s national team will play a pre-tournament friendly against Bahrain (15), Jordan (20), and Malaysia (25). The knockout stage then takes place in Qatar from January 28 to February 10.
Spurs’ current January schedule consists of three games: an FA Cup match against Burnley (5), a Premier League trip to Manchester United (14) and a home match against Brentford (30).
Another match that Tottenham will play without Son is the FA Cup fourth round, which is scheduled for the weekend of January 27 if they defeat Burnley on January 5.
At the start of February they go to Everton (3) and then host Brighton (10) in the Premier League and will hope to have Son back for that match with the Seagulls, but he may not return until they take on Wolves (17).
Tottenham games Son could miss
January
5 – Burnley (h) – FA Cup third round
14 – Man Utd (a) – Premier League
30 – Brentford (h) – Premier League
February
3 – Everton (a) – Premier League
10 – Brighton (h) – Premier League
