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Tottenham star Son Heung-min sat down to compare the best British and Korean snacks, and there was only one winner.

The South Korea international joined SPORTBible for Snack Wars, served up with treats from both countries to pick a winner.

First up on the menu was Jaffa Cakes and Korean treat Choco Pie. Trying the British classic however, Son wasn’t impressed. No. I’m so disappointed!’ he said as he forced it down. ‘What’s it inside? Orange? Why? I’m sorry.’ That’s such a disappointment, I’m devastated.’

Son was next served up another British classic in a jar of pickled onions. After giving it a few very tentative sniffs, the Spurs forward dug in, sticking the whole onion in his mouth.

Almost wincing, Son swiftly screwed the lid back on and called it quits. ‘I’m sorry. To be fair, the onion is not too bad. It’s the sauce… with some other food you maybe deal with it.’

After getting his bearings back, Son awarded Korean snack Kimchi the clear winner, ‘all day long’.

While picking a packet of Jellycious over Love Hearts, Son named Ben Davies as the teammate he would most likely share his sweets with.

‘I would say Ben Davies, he’s my best friend he is always next to me, pushing me. We have similar personalities, similar hobbies and we get on really well.’

There was one victory for British confection with Son opting for Tottenham cake over a Custard Pie from his homeland.

Son has scored three times and laid on three assists for Tottenham this season, missing six games through injury with hamstring and thigh issues.

He is currently on international duty, scoring for South Korea in the 3-1 win over Kuwait in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday.

South Korea take on Palestine on Tuesday in a match to be played at the Amman International Stadium in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

Son and Tottenham return to domestic action against Manchester City on Saturday evening.

Referee David Coote allegedly attempted to organise a ‘drugs party’ while he was officiating a match between Tottenham and Manchester City last month.

On Monday, Coote was suspended from domestic refereeing duty by the PGMOL [Professional Game Match Officials Ltd] after a video emerged of him making derogatory comments about Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp.

The 42-year-old appeared to call Liverpool ‘s**t’ and Klopp a ‘German c**t’ after a match in 2020.

Then on Wednesday, another video emerged appearing to show him snorting a white powder, which was supposedly recorded while Coote was on duty at Euro 2024.

UEFA have also suspended the Premier League referee and investigations have been launched into the two incidents.

Now, a report from The Sun claims that Coote contacted a friend just minutes before he was set to officiate a massive cup clash, trying to organise a ‘drugs party’ in a hotel for after the match.

The game in question was Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Man City in the Carabao Cup on October 30, where Coote was the fourth official.

The friend in question told The Sun: ‘On the day of the game he was messaging me repeatedly and wanting a drugs party after he’d finished at Spurs.

‘He didn’t book the Travelodge until just before kick-off, then sent a notification 11 minutes from the game starting. It was crazy.

‘City striker Erling Haaland was on the bench, so I was watching them on TV pretty much side by side. And moments before and afterwards he sent me messages.’

With kick-off at 8.15pm, it is said he booked a room at a Travelodge at 7.38pm and sent a booking notification to someone else at 8.04pm.

Coote then texted the friend again at the break, saying: ‘Hope you’re getting ready’.

‘When he messaged me at half-time I thought it was so surreal. Surely he should have been concentrating on the game, not arranging drugs parties,’ the friend added.

The party never occurred however: ‘I didn’t feel like meeting up in the end so told him I couldn’t make it.

‘He went mad and asked for the £73.99 total booking fee back.’

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Tottenham travel to Turkey for a Europa League match with Galatasaray hoping to exorcise some of their recent poor performances away from home.

Spurs have won nine of their last 11 matches in all competitions, beating both West Ham and Aston Villa 4-1 and knocking Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 success in N17, but their last two away days have been disasters.

First, they blew a 2-0 half-time lead at Brighton thanks to a terrible second-half performance in which individual errors led to a 3-2 defeat, then they made the shorter trip to Crystal Palace where a dismal team display led to the Eagles gaining a 1-0 win for their first Premier League victory of the season.

Top scorers in the top-flight, Spurs hold strong claims to be the most entertaining side in English football when they are playing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium while being the most frustrating when they on are their travels.

They have taken a maximum nine points after opening their Europa League campaign with three wins, beating FK Qarabag, Ferencvaros and AZ Alkmaar – a tally only matched by Lazio and Anderlecht – but Galatasaray will be different gravy after also registering nine wins from 11 matches in all outings this term.

Ange Postecoglou is likely to shuffle his pack and will be without first-choice central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and although Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies are decent replacements, a Tottenham side which could also feature young prospects Mikey Moore, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and possibly Will Lankshear in attack may find the going tough in Istanbul if Galatasaray field their strongest line-up.

The Turkish League leaders lost over two legs to Swiss side Young Boys in the Champions League qualifiers but have beaten PAOK Salonika and Elfsborg at home either side of a draw at Latvian club Rigas in Europe’s second-tier tournament.

Galatasaray may be too strong on home territory and Victor Omishen, who has been trailed by numerous Premier League clubs, is 6/1 with Sky Bet to hit the first goal and 13/8 with the same firm to score at any time. Son Heung-Min is 11/4 to reply for the London club while both teams to score and Galatasaray to win is 5/2 with bet365 and Betway.

Even if they are beaten, Tottenham can reach the knockout stages with ease and are worthy favourites to win the Europa League at 4/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.

• Manchester United fans revelling in new manager Ruben Amorim leading Sporting to a 4-1 Champions League success against Manchester City in Lisbon on Tuesday can rejoice further when their side convincingly beats Europa League opponents PAOK Salonika at Old Trafford.

Draws with FC Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce have left the hosts with work to do to reach the knockout stages but they can beat their Greek opponents by more than one goal at 4/5 with Unibet. Alejandro Garnacho is 23/4 to open the scoring with Unibet and BetUK and 17/10 with the former firm to find the net at any time.

• Chelsea can warm up for Sunday’s Premier League London derby at home to Arsenal by walloping Europa Conference League visitors Noah. The Blues will make sweeping changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Manchester United on Sunday but are still worth backing at 6/1 with bet365, Paddy Power, BoyleSports and Betfair to win 4-0. Have a saver on a 5-0 home victory at 9/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair.

Ange Postecoglou provided a worrying update after Richarlison and Cristian Romero both went off injured during Tottenham’s win over Aston Villa.

Spurs came from behind to defeat the Villans 4-1 on Sunday and move up to seventh in the Premier League table.

Goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison either side of a Dominic Solanke brace highlighted a brilliant second-half for the home side.

But their victory appears to have come at a cost, with Romero hobbling off on the hour mark after going down following a challenge on Villa’s goalscorer Morgan Rogers.

To make matters worse, Richarlison also had to come off after hurting himself while assisting Solanke’s second goal, lasting just 27 minutes having been subbed on for Son Heung-min.

Speaking after the match, Postecoglou couldn’t clarify how serious the injuries were but was clearly worried given the pair’s recent fitness issues.

‘Richy obviously felt something in the action of setting the goal up, his hamstring, so we’ll see,’ the manager said in his post-match press conference.

‘Romero, it was in that challenge again. He felt his foot was sore. I don’t have any sort of further information. Obviously, he’s a pretty tough cookie for him to come off, it must be sore, but yeah, look it’s not ideal.

‘But again it’s another game where we’ve had to reshuffle our back line. Radu [Dragusin] has played left centre-back, right centre-back, left centre-back, right centre-back.

‘Ben Davies has had to come in at different times and Destiny [Udogie] midweek and the boys are handling it really well. As I said it’s not ideal but, hopefully both are not too serious.’

Prior to the match, Postecoglou revealed Micky van de Ven would be out until after the international break and if Romero is also sidelined, Tottenham will be without their first choice centre-backs for the next few games.

Spurs have two more fixtures before the November break: Away to Galatasaray in the Europa League and at home against Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

Their first match back is a huge one however as they travel to Manchester City on November 23 having knocked them out of the Carabao Cup earlier this week.

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Ange Postecoglou said it was always the plan to sub Son Heung-min off early against Aston Villa despite the Tottenham captain raging at the decision.

Spurs went into half-time 1-0 down to Villa thanks to Morgan Rogers’ opener but equalised almost immediately after the break with Son teeing up Brennan Johnson.

But soon after, just 55 minutes in, Postecoglou hauled off his captain with Richarlison taking his place.

Son was visibly baffled when his number was shown and after briefly embracing his manager, vented his frustration on the subs bench for all to see.

Though the South Korea forward had just returned from an injury, it seemed a strange call to sub him off so soon after producing an assist.

Yet it paid off, as Tottenham went on to win 4-1 with Richarlison setting up Dominic Solanke for the third goal, though the Brazilian then had to be subbed himself because of injury.

Explaining the decision, Postecoglou said he always planned to bring off Son when he did, telling BBC Sport: ‘He was never going to play more than 55 minutes.

‘Last time he came back from injury he got to the 60-minute mark and got injured again. He got through unscathed.

The great thing was he made a pretty big contribution before that, a great ball in for our equaliser. Again, we’ve got more battles ahead and we’re going to need him.’

Asked about the 32-year-old’s reaction, the manager added: ‘No, no, I didn’t see any difference in Sonny [in the dressing room].

‘I’d be surprised if any player likes coming off when they feel alright but no I didn’t need to discuss it with him. What’s more important for us is the overall picture.’

The result moves Tottenham up to seventh in the table, just two points shy of Villa and Arsenal with a far superior goal difference.

‘I thought we had to match them in the first half. We conceded a goal but we made them work really hard in the first half,’ Postecoglou added.

‘The thing with us is we have another two or three gears in us. Credit to the players, after a massive effort on Wednesday night physically, to do that.’

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Ange Postecoglou says that Son Heung-min should be ‘okay’ to play in Tottenham’s big Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Spurs captain has missed the last three games with a thigh issue, with Postecoglou previously stating that he was aiming to be ready in time for the Villa clash.

Tottenham have had mixed results in Son’s absence, beating AZ in the Europa League and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup but losing at struggling Crystal Palace in the Premier League last Sunday.

The South Korea star has three goals and two assists in just six league appearances so far this season and with the club lagging behind in eighth in the table, they’ll want him back for such a big game.

Villa are fourth in the table and head to north London with an outstanding away record: five wins, one draw and no defeats across all competitions so far.

Postecoglou will therefore be relieved that his captain was back in training on Friday and says that providing nothing goes wrong he should be available.

‘Sonny has trained today, so if he gets through training tomorrow he should be okay,’ the manager said in his pre-match press conference.

But Tottenham have other injury worries to deal with, notably first choice centre-back duo Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, both of whom hobbled off injured during the 2-1 win over City on Wednesday night.

Van de Ven left the pitch in tears, appearing to have suffered a hamstring injury and having missed 16 games last season thanks to hamstring injuries, fans have been fearing the worst.

Thankfully for them, it seems that while the Dutch defender will miss the Villa game, he won’t be out for too long.

‘Main one is Micky, he has sort of strained his hamstring. It’s not too serious, but probably after the international break for him,’ Postecoglou added.

‘He was really looking forward to the game, so he was emotional. At least it’s not a bad one like last time that kept him out for quite a while.

‘Romero, [Timo] Werner. At the moment, still a chance for the weekend.’

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Micky van de Ven appears to have played down the severity of the injury he suffered in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup defeat of Manchester City, reassuring fans that he will be ‘back soon’.

The 23-year-old pulled up with a suspected hamstring problem while sprinting back to tackle City winger Savinho at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, shortly after Timo Werner had opened the scoring.

Destiny Udogie came on to replace Van de Ven – which saw Radu Dragusin switch to centre-half – and the Netherlands defender was clearly in some discomfort as he made his way off the pitch in tears in north London.

‘He felt something in his hamstring,’ Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou said of Van de Ven’s injury following the victory.

‘It’s still early to predict how long he will be out but he definitely felt something and we’ll see how he is.’

A long-range Pape Sarr strike doubled Tottenham’s advantage ten minutes on from Van de Ven’s substitution and the hosts held firm to secure their place in the quarter-finals after Matheus Nunes had reduced deficit on the stroke of half-time.

The sight of Van de Ven hobbling his way off the field in the early stages took some of the shine off the victory from Spurs’ perspective, though, with games coming thick and fast for Postecoglou’s men.

However, the in-form centre-back – arguably Tottenham’s best player this season – has given supporters hope that his injury may not be as bad as first feared.

‘Back soon,’ Van de Ven told his 500,000 followers on Instagram this evening.

There is no let-up for Spurs, with a tricky contest at home to fourth-placed Aston Villa awaiting them in the Premier League this weekend.

Postecoglou’s side have lost two of their last three matches in the English top flight, suffering defeat at both Crystal Palace and Brighton, and will be desperate to bounce back on Sunday afternoon.

Should Van de Ven be ruled out of the clash, Dragusin will likely to come in and deputise for the Dutchman at the heart of Tottenham’s defence alongside Cristian Romero.

Club captain Son Heung-min has not featured in Spurs’ last three matches but Postecoglou is hopeful the South Korean could be involved versus Villa.

‘Sonny is almost fit but probably from our perspective we’ll aim for the weekend and we’re quite confident he’ll be right,’ he told reporters before Tottenham knocked City out of the League Cup.

The Tottenham boss is also confident both Werner and Romero will be fit and available to face Villa despite the pair failing to see out the full 90 minutes against City.

‘Timo hasn’t played a lot, so I felt it was more fatigue, hopefully, than anything else,’ he said.

‘Cristian said he felt okay, but my gut was telling me there’s no point taking a risk as we had Ben [Davies] who could come on.’

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Micky van de Ven was in tears as he left the pitch after suffering a hamstring injury in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup clash with Manchester City on Wednesday night.

The Dutch defender was chasing after City winger Savinho when he seemed to tweak a hamstring.

The 23-year-old tried to shrug off the problem but was clearly in pain as he grabbed the back of his right leg and treatment on the field could not improve the situation.

Just 14 minutes into the match he was replaced by Destiny Udogie and looked very emotional as he limped off the pitch and down the tunnel.

Teammate Yves Bissouma ran after Van de Ven to give him a hug, with the Dutchman distraught to suffer what appears to be a serious injury.

The rapid centre-back knows all too well how long he is likely to face on the sidelines due to the hamstring problem, having suffered the same issue last season.

He pulled a hamstring in the memorable Premier League meeting with Chelsea on 6 November 2023 and was not back in action until he faced Manchester United on 14 January this year.

There was also concern for Timo Werner in the second half as the German went down seemingly with pain in his groin.

The former Chelsea man opened the scoring at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but couldn’t make it to the final whistle, replaced by Richarlison on 69 minutes.

Postecoglou said of the injury concerns: ‘Micky felt something in his hamstring. I haven’t got the full update on him but he definitely felt something and we’ll see how he is.

‘Cuti [Romero] was a bit tired. I contemplated changing him at half-time but after losing Micky as well I didn’t want to lose another centre-half. He said he felt ok but my gut was telling me there’s no point taking a risk as we had Benny [Davies] who could come on.

‘Timo hasn’t played a lot so I felt it was more fatigue hopefully than anything else.’

Other than the injury concerns it was an excellent night for Ange Postecoglou, though, as they ousted Manchester City from the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win.

Werner’s opener was followed by a fabulous strike from Pape Matar Sarr, with Savinho getting one back for City before the break.

That was where the scoring ended as Erling Haaland remained on the bench and Spurs booked their spot in the quarter-finals.

More to follow…

Tottenham forward Richarlison was absolutely fuming after Vinicius Jr missed out on the Ballon d’Or on Monday night, slamming the ’embarrassing’ decision to hand the award to Rodri.

The Manchester City midfielder won the prestigious prize after another superb season for the Premier League champions and Euro 2024 glory with Spain.

Many had thought Vinicius was likely to be the winner after an excellent year with Real Madrid which saw him win La Liga and the Champions League.

However, Rodri won the top prize and Real Madrid had to make do with second, third and fourth, as Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal took those spots respectively.

The Spanish giants did not take the results well, boycotting the ceremony after the decisions were leaked, and Richarlison also feels incredibly upset that his compatriot missed out.

Posting on Instagram, the Spurs star wrote: ‘All of us who live football eagerly await the individual awards each season.

‘Today, all Brazilians who love football woke up expecting to see another player from our country win an award for the best in the world after so long.

‘Unfortunately, for reasons that no one can understand, the award did not come.

‘And don’t get me wrong, Rodri is a great player who deserves to be among the best. But Vini not winning the Ballon d’Or was embarrassing, and the only one who lost today was football.

‘I remember Vini saying that his dream was to see the whole of Brazil cheering for him. And that day was today!

‘You are a giant and the best in the world, kid! And no trophy will change that. Keep going and never shut up! We’re together.’

After Rodri was presented with the award, Vinicius responded himself, posting on X: ‘I’ll do it 10 times if I have to. They’re not ready.’

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was named Men’s Coach of the Year at the ceremony but sent a pointed message to organisers as he posted: ‘ ‘I want to thank my Family, my President, my Club, my Players and above all Vini and Carvajal.’

In a statement reported by Spanish newspaper AS, Real Madrid said: ‘If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to (Dani) Carvajal as the winner.

‘As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.’

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was asked about Real Madrid’s boycott of the event and the former Barcelona boss said they were entitled to do what they want, although he would be unlikely to do the same.

‘It’s up to them,’ he said. ‘If they want to congratulate, that’s fine. If not, that’s fine as well. At Manchester City, we are not here to judge other clubs on what they decide they have to do.

‘Last season for example, Erling [Haaland] won the Treble, scored more than 50 goals. I said to him “just being there, you have to be so happy”. I said the same to Rodri. If you are in the first two, three or four, it’s exceptional. Last season, Erling should win, yes. Should Messi have won? Yes. It doesn’t matter.

‘You and your teammates have done something amazing. Should it be Vinicius? Maybe. It’s not an elite group, it’s journalists who vote.’

On Rodri’s success he said: ‘What can I say? First, to congratulate him and all his family and their friends, it’s incredible news for him and for all of us.

‘All Manchester City, our fans, we are so proud of him. We could never have imagined this years ago, that one [City] player could receive this prestigious award. We are so delighted to share it with him and hopefully, it can give him energy to recover well for next season and be with us again.’

Son Heung-min is ‘sore’ after Tottenham’s win over West Ham at the weekend and will not be involved in their Europa League clash AZ on Thursday night.

The Spurs captain scored in the 4-1 win over the Hammers on Saturday but was subbed off after 70 minutes, replaced by Timo Werner.

The South Korean star returned from a hamstring injury to start the match against West Ham and is feeling the effects of a dramatic London derby.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says he was never intending to play Son against AZ on Thursday and he will be given time to recover from soreness ahead of the weekend.

‘The one’s missing today, Sonny was a bit sore after the weekend and he was never going to be involved tomorrow anyway because he missed a bit,’ the Australian told a press conference on Wednesday.

‘We’re just leaving him out of tomorrow and see how he is from there.’

Spurs return to Premier League action when they travel across London to take on Crystal Palace on Sunday.

It has been an encouraging start to their Europa League campaign for Tottenham, with wins over Qarabag and Ferenvaros in their two outings so far.

‘We’ve started the competition really well,’ said Postecoglou. ‘Whenever you play away in Europe, it’s a different challenge. We’ve exposed our younger players to European football which is a positive.

‘We weren’t in Europe last year and I thought we missed it. We’ve started the competition well but there’s still a long way to go. One step at a time for us.’

Tottenham star Micky van de Ven is facing a side from his homeland in AZ and Postecoglou is thrilled with how the rapid Dutch defender has settled into life in the Premier League.

‘With Micky it’s fair to say he developed late but very quickly,’ said the Spurs boss. ‘Even at Volendam there was a period when they were a bit unsure.

‘For us last year he was outstanding in his first year in the Premier League. He’s growing all the time, maturing. I think the more he plays with the national team it will give him more belief.’

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