Tottenham vs Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace will hope to punch above their weight again when they visit White Hart Lane for a London derby with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The Eagles have impressively negotiated their way past a daunting fixture list as they had to take on last season’s top three sides inside the opening five games.
Palace gave as much as they got before narrowly losing to Arsenal. Pardew’s men then spoiled Jose Mourinho’s 100th league home game anniversary by claiming a 1-2 victory at Stamford Bridge.
Last weekend, the Eagles were close to becoming the first side to take points off Manchester City this season before the Citizens claimed maximum points thanks to a late winner. After those big games, Crystal Palace travel to Spurs sitting sixth in the table.
The Eagles are among the most exciting teams to watch this season, with Yohan Cabaye’s quality complementing James McArthur’s industry, while the three attacking midfielders – Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha and Bakary Sako – consistently terrorise defenders with their trickery and pace.
Spurs have not been as easy on the eye, with Harry Kane still in the middle of a goal drought while last season’s chief creative player, Christian Eriksen, has been out injured. Eric Dier has probably been the most impressive Spurs player this term with his assured displays in front of the central defenders.
The north Londoners had to wait until the fifth round of league matches for their first win of the season, but Mauricio Pochettino’s charges followed their 0-1 victory at Sunderland with a 3-1 win over Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday.
Tottenham are reaping the benefits of Pochettino’s training methods as they have generally been in the ascendency when opponents tire in the closing stages. They have scored five goals in their last five games in the last 10 minutes, including Ryan Mason’s winner at Sunderland and Erik Lamela’s late strike against Qarabag.
Tottenham Hotspur team news
- Nabil Bentaleb is expected to miss out with an ankle injury.
- Mousa Dembele (ankle), Ryan Mason and Eriksen (both knee) could miss out as well, though Eriksen is back in training.
Crystal Palace team news
- Fraizer Campbell (hamstring), Kwesi Appiah (ACL knee), Marouane Chamakh (hamstring) and Joel Ward (knee) are all unavailable.
- On top of those absentees, Connor Wickham (calf), Damien Delaney (groin) and Joe Ledley (hamstring) are all doubts.
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace prediction
There should be wholesale changes to the Spurs side that defeated Qarabag, but Tom Carroll could continue partnering Dier in central midfield should Mason fail to recover in time.
Hueng-Min SOn looked really lively against the Azerbaijani champions, so the South Korean could be included as a wide attacking midfielder to add a goal threat to Tottenham’s play given Kane’s current form.
Son is likely to start from the right flank in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Nacer Chadli making diagonal runs forward from the left attacking midfield position, while Dele Alli roams just behind Kane as the central attacking midfielder.
Tottenham will hold a high defensive line when attacking to push play into Palace’s half, so Connor Wickham could spearhead Palace’s attacks lto threaten in behind during quick changeovers.
Cabaye and McArthur will probably continue as holding midfielders for the Eagles, with Sako starting in the number 1p position where he will probably be flanked by Zaha and Bolasie as the attacking midfielders supporting Wickham.
Spurs will be favourites in this home encounter, but this will be a difficult task for Pochettino’s charges especially considering Palace’s threat on the counter and how easily Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe got in behind Spurs’ defence last weekend.
Score prediction
Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Crystal Palace
