Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Match Coverage
Son’s farewell stole the spotlight, but another 31-touch Tottenham star had Newcastle nightmare amid uncertain future
Tottenham Hotspur took on Newcastle United in Seoul for a pre-season clash that ended 1-1, but it was Son Heung-min’s farewell which stole the headlines.
It wasn’t necessarily a game to remember for Spurs, aside from the Korean’s farewell. Mathys Tel missed a sitter in the first half when he was clear through on goal with no defenders around him, but after a stepover that didn’t fool Nick Pope, he couldn’t fire home.
Another nightmare for Tottenham was the fact that James Maddison was stretchered off for Spurs, with Thomas Frank suggesting the incident was a “brutal” one.
This aside, there were also some mediocre performances on the pitch. In particular, Ben Davies was rather woeful.
Ben Davies was poor for Tottenham against Newcastle
Davies is a Tottenham legend, but he didn’t paint himself in glory in the pre-season clash. He looked miles off it, which was reflected in his stats.
| Minutes played | 80 |
| Accurate passes | 18/26 (69%) |
| Passes into final third | 4 |
| Accurate long balls | 0/4 (0%) |
| Tackles won | 0/0 |
| Clearances | 0 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Defensive actions | 2 |
| Recoveries | 1 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
| Ground duels won | 0/1 (0%) |
| Aerial duels won | 0/3 (0%) |
Spurs, heading into a Champions League season, need to think about whether players like Davies have an immediate future at the club or need to be upgraded.
The Welshman at the moment is second fiddle – and if an injury were to occur to Destiny Udogie, Frank would be stuck just playing Davies in that position, or forced to use Micky van de Ven there.
And despite signing a new contract recently, Davies has been linked with a move away.
Ben Davies linked with Championship move
The 32-year-old spoke out on his future on Friday, saying he’s focused on Spurs right now. However, he did leave the door open to a potential exit, ‘if something changes’, as quoted by .
He said: “That is not necessarily under my control [his future].
“I reported for pre-season and I’m excited to be here. My focus is on how I can help this club this year and if something changes, I’m sure I will be picking up that call. Right now, I don’t see anything else.”
Wrexham are among the clubs sniffing around Davies, who has been at Tottenham for a whopping 11 years, playing over 350 games.
Is now the time to wave goodbye alongside Son Heung-min?