Saturday, July 18, 2020

Weekend Preview July 19 and Midweek Recap July 15

One more league calls it a season after this weekend and only one more match after that. The exit of all the guys from CL/EL is a bit sad and the ineligibility of Hwang Hee Chan from CL will make it doubly so. But nearing a summer blog break...


Sunday

Son Heung Min and Tottenham host Leicester City at 11 AM on NBCSN - Son scored again and this was a good one, receiving the ball in the box after some scrappy work from Lucas and Lo Celso, and quickly firing between the legs of one defender and just inside the bottom corner. It wasn't a great showing otherwise, showing some real fatigue from the weekend derby, but it was enough to help Tottenham fighting for the Europa League spots. Son was also less effective playing out wide in a 4-3-3... we'll see if Mourinho goes back to 4-4-2 but Son should start regardless of formation.



Lee Kang In and Valencia go to Sevilla at 3 PM on BeIn Play - LKI got a surprise start as it looks like Valencia is starting to plan for next season. He primarily played as a second forward, occasionally dropping deeper. It was a decent showing, with one spectacular long pass that Gameiro should have scored on, but also still a bit of the trying-too-hard that has colored his showings this season. His impact waned in the second half and was subbed off fairly early, but they too still have faint hopes for EL though far less certain than Son. We'll see if they show more LKI in an effort to have him sign an extension or improve his market value, but optimistic about some play but remain wary given their EL hopes.