Journalist Alasdair Gold has tipped Son Heung-min to be dropped in favour of Richarlison for the upcoming Tottenham Hotspur fixture.

What’s the word?

In the Premier League this weekend, Antonio Conte will have some key decisions to make for Spurs as they look to end a run of back-to-back defeats with a trip away from home.

Indeed, the north London outfit lost to Arsenal and then Manchester City but now travel to face high-flying Fulham who sit just two points behind Tottenham in the division.

Hugo Lloris has been in poor form but Gold believes Conte will keep faith in the goalkeeper and club captain. The same, however, cannot be said about Son who looks set to be dropped.

In a new article for football.london, Gold predicted: "Conte is more likely to keep faith with skipper Hugo Lloris than bring in Fraser Forster but the Italian could change it up in the front line if he considers Richarlison to be fit enough to start.

"If the Brazilian is ready then the Tottenham head coach might take the out-of-form Son Heung-min out of the firing line in the hope of provoking a similar response to the one he got against Leicester earlier in the season."

Gold's starting team was: "Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon; Kulusevski, Kane, Richarlison."

Time to be dropped?

When fit, Son, who has been hailed as 'world-class', has started all but one league game this season, as well as missing two through injury. Incidentally, in that match when he was dropped, he came off the bench to net a hat trick.

Sadly for the South Korean, that was a rare bright spot in a difficult campaign. Indeed, he has scored in just one other Premier League fixture and has only two assists in the top flight too.

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte still seems to have faith in Lloris, with the Frenchman starting all but one game in the Premier League up to this stage in the season.

Richarlison hasn't exactly fared much better either. In fact, he is yet to score a league goal for Spurs – though has two goals in the Champions League. In 12 league outings, the Brazilian is yet to make much of a mark domestically.

Injury has limited him to just two appearances off the bench in the past five games but he could well be fit enough to play more of a role this weekend, as Gold explains.

And so, if Son is dropped it will be interesting to see if he can deliver as a substitute just like last time. While Conte will also be desperate for Richarlison to start delivering the goods after his £60m transfer in the summer.