Who said Son Heung-min from Japan? Mitoma, who has lost her breakthrough power, is unusual...The lowest score against Tottenham was 20 → 22 Won-ho

Sep 21, 2025

ReutersYonhap News

AFP Yonhap News

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, dubbed 'Japanese Son Heung-min', is in a serious slump.

Mitoma started on the left wing in the fifth round of the English Premier League (EPL) away game against Tottenham in the 2025-2026 season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 21st (Korea time), and played full time for 90 minutes, but left only a slight presence.

The local magazine 'Sussex World" ran very hard defensively, but had difficulty attacking. He scored the lowest rating in the team, 6 points, with the evaluation that he often lost ball ownership. The statistics company 'Sofascore' scored 6.3 points, the lowest in the team. This is the lowest score for Mitoma, who started all five EPL games this season. Mitoma, who showed signs of rebounding against Bournemouth on the 14th, hit the lowest point again in a week.

Mitoma has recorded a total of 15 loss of ball ownership, as pointed out by the local area. Brighton's left flank, where Mitoma and left-back Ferdinand Cardioglu are located, allowed his opponent to break through. In the 37th minute of the second half, Tottenham's equaliser was also created by Brighton's left-side cross attack.

EPL rating for the 2025-2026 season of Kaoru Mitoma. Source = Sofa Score

Mitoma, who is considered good at vertical breakthrough, made five attempts to break through dribbles and succeeded twice. Although it is more than the average of 1.4 this season, it is constantly being evaluated that the unique breakthrough has disappeared. Japanese media 'Sportiva' after Brighton's 1-2 loss at Bournemouth 'Mitoma failed to produce any highlights except for the score. Wing play was also sluggish. Mitoma failed to score a vertical breakthrough, a characteristic of the winger, in the first four games. Including the A-match against Mexico and the U.S. in September, it is the sixth game. He is not showing his forward momentum, ability to beat his opponent, and above all, his boldness. This is pointed out as one of Brighton's underperformance.

In fact, Mitoma's average number of dribbling successes per game decreased to 1.8-2.1-1.4 from the 2022-2023 season, the first season to enter the EPL, to this season. On the other hand, the number of dribbles allowed increased to 0.6-0.7-0.8-1.2. The number of successful contests also decreased significantly this season to 4.5-4.5-4.1-2.4. The success rate of passing against Tottenham was only 70%. The only shot in the box in the 34th minute of the second half was blocked by the goalkeeper. Records show that the so-called 'form' is not good. This season's EPL average score is 6.64 points.

APYonhap News

Brighton continued its bad trend against Tottenham amid Mitoma's sluggish performance. The team quickly gained the upper hand with consecutive goals from Yankuba Mintech in the 8th minute and Yasin Ayari in the 31st minute. However, Brighton, who allowed Hishalisson to score a chasing goal in the 43rd minute of the first half, missed a victory that was secured by Jan van Hekken's own goal in the 37th minute of the second half.

Brighton, who ranked eighth in the EPL with Mitoma's 10-goal performance in the 2024-2025 season, is in 14th place with only one win (two draws and two losses) in five games this season. Tottenham had three wins, one draw and one loss and 10 points in five games, ranking second behind Liverpool (15 points).

Mitoma has 21 goals and 14 assists in 93 EPL games. Son Heung-min, who is classified as a left winger like Mitoma, played 333 games in the EPL for Tottenham from 2015 to 2025, scoring 127 goals and 71 assists.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.