Korean soccer players in Europe to play during Chuseok holiday

Korean soccer players active in European leagues are gearing up to celebrative goals for the Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving) holiday.

Matches involving teams that Korean players are affiliated in the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga will take place during the holiday in succession.

Son Heung-min (23) will be the first among them to play a match to seek a goal. Son will likely be a starting player in a home, seventh-round match against Manchester City at 8:45 p.m. on Saturday. U.K. media predict Son will play the left wing. Son, who scored his English Premier League debut goal in the match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, will aim to garner his second goal in two consecutive matches in the game against Man City, which boasts the strongest defense in the league.

Ki Sung-yueng (26, Swansea City) will play in a match against South Hampton at 11 p.m. on Saturday, while Crystal Palace Lee Chong-yong (27) is affiliated will face off Watford at 00:00 a.m. on Sunday. Ki and Lee, who have yet to score a single goal since the opening of this season’s EPL, will pursue their first goals.

In Germany, Korean ‘Bundesligars’ will likely have a showdown against each other. Augsburg, the team that Midfielder Ku Ja-cheol (26) and Ji Dong-won (24), and Hong Jeong-ho are all affiliated, will play a match against Hoffenheim at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. Kim Jin-soo (23), a defender of the Korean national team, is playing as a key member for Hoffenheim. The Korean trio in Augsburg played as starting members together in Friday’s match against Munich Gladbach on Thursday, and all played full-time. Dortmund to which Park Ju-ho (28) belongs will face off Darmstadt at 00:30 a.m. on Monday. Dortmund (five wins and one draw), which ranks second after Munich (6 wins) this season, is performing the best among the teams in the Bundesliga teams that include Korean soccer players.

wing@donga.com