As the rain fell in South London, it was a familiar story between Tottenham and Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Like in the last five meetings between the two London sides, Tottenham walked away with a gritty 1-0 win, thanks to a headed goal from Foyth, who last week had an absolute shocker giving away two penalties in a 3-2 victory.
Both sides had their chances to add to the scoreline, and if it wasn’t for extra-ordinary performances from both keepers, especially Lloris, the scoreline could have been a lot different. Palace’s best chance to level in the match fell late on to Sørloth, but the Norwegian could only manage to produce a save from the French captain after a low riffled effort.
No Zaha. No points.
It’s safe to say that Crystal Palace struggle when their talisman is not in the side. It’s a hindrance to their overall play that can be seen on many levels. There is an immediate sense of apprehension when not seeing his name on the team sheet, as everyone knows what a threat he has against any side. When the opposition know that the South London side’s biggest asset is not there it allows them to open up and play more expressively and that’s exactly what Tottenham did. It is perhaps no surprise that the Eagles are still yet to pick up a single point in a game where the Ivorian has not featured in over two years.
Costly defensive injuries
The game featured a few notable injuries, for both sides. The first half saw the withdrawal of Kieren Trippier after he picked up a knock to his right leg. After carrying on for a few moments it was clear that he was not comfortable on it and Aurier came on to replace the England international. It will be concerning to the North Londoners, but it may have come at one of those times of the season you’d want a knock; with two weeks of internationals, it will give Trippier the rest he needs as he will not travel with Gareth Southgate and the squad for upcoming fixtures vs the US and Croatia. Alongside this, with the inconsistency of Aurier’s performances, there will be hopes that the two-week break is all Trippier needs to recover, with important games in Europe to come.
Similarly for Palace Tomkins was forced off which had a negative effect on them. As a cornerstone of the settled Palace backline, his presence is often missed when he’s out for a spell of time. He’s a defender that puts his body on the line, and with the distinct lack of goals in the squad, he’s generally one of the biggest threats from setpieces.
Spur’s high line
Tottenham would have been playing into Palace’s hands with the way they were defending and with such a high line on another day they could have been punished. Ayew and Townsend made admirable runs in behind, especially in the first half, but the lack of composure showed when breaking into the box. The high line is a tactic that can work very well, but against a side that has more of an attacking edge than Palace did on Saturday, they could easily be punished for it. With the occasional lapses in concentration from Lloris, when flapping his hands at crosses and set pieces, the high line can cause even more problems yet his performance on the weekend was top draw.
Are Spurs title contenders?
The talk so far this season in terms of contenders for the Premier League title has surrounded Liverpool, Manchester City, and more recently Chelsea, but Spurs are certainly up there with them. They may not be unbeaten like the others, or have been playing as much of a free-flowing style every match, but with nine wins out of the twelve games, and with six of the win coming from just a single goal lead, they are grinding out wins and points unlike the other three. It demonstrates a new dimension to the Tottenham squad, that even though they are fielding understrength sides, and putting sub-par performances, they are still racking up the points. So, the likes of City, Liverpool, and Chelsea, had better watch out when Spurs have their best assets fully fit and firing on all cylinders, especially with a more pleasant run of games coming up over the Christmas period.
Same Ol’ Palace
Another week, and another loss for Palace. Now they sit above the relegation zone thanks to goal difference, which is mostly because of the defensive record. Once again, a home game has gone by and no goal from open play has been scored. They had their chances with Sørloth, and Townsend with arguably the better ones, but with no cutting edge at the top of the field, it looks troubling from an Eagles perspective where the goals will come from. There are issues that will need to be addressed in January, and although they have played well so far in this horrible run of four fixtures, they now go on to face Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United team. Without doubt, December will be an important month for Palace’s season.
