Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur
Date: 10/11/2018
K/O: 17:30
Venue: Selhurst Park
TV: BT Sport 1
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Crystal Palace continue through their grueling spell of tough fixtures on Saturday as they welcome Tottenham to Selhurst Park for their third London derby in a row.
Spurs’ north-London rivals Arsenal were the last team to visit Selhurst Park and the Eagles will be hoping for at least a repeat of that performance on Saturday. Two well-taken penalties from Milivojevic was enough to secure the valuable point against the Gunners and Hodgson will be looking for his side to stand up and be counted against Pochettinho’s side.
However, Crystal Palace have been far better on the road than in their own territory this season, having picked up just two points at Selhurst Park – the worst home points tally in the league. Sadly for Palace, their opponents this weekend have taken more points away from home than anyone else this season. Granted, circumstances involving their new stadium have forced Spurs to play seven away matches when everyone else has played five or six, but they have shown grit and character to win six out of those seven games and will be eager to continue this trend on Saturday.
To add to this, Tottenham have won eight and drawn one of their last 10 meetings with Palace in the Premier League, dating back to their return to the top flight in 2013, and the odds suggest that this weekend’s match will not buck the trend.
Although both teams have been slightly more tepid in front of goal this season than last, they have managed to conjure up some goalscoring form of late; which potentially indicates that a high-tempo, end to end match will be the order of the day on Saturday. What’s more is that Spurs have developed a habit of winning by just one goal this season, and Palace have contested well in recent games. With all taken into consideration, all signs point towards a tight affair between the two this weekend.
Team News
Crystal Palace
Scott Dann once again played for the under-23’s on Monday, and the centre-back will possibly make an appearance in the Premier League on Saturday. This will largely depend on a pre-match assessment and, if the Englishman makes the bench, the circumstances of the match will dictate whether he comes on or not.
Elsewhere, Joel Ward remains a doubt for the home side, while Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham sustain long-term injuries.
Tottenham
A number of Spurs’ midfielders have been in and out of fitness this season, with two of their main men, Eriksen and Alli, looking to be back in business and ready to play on Saturday.
Eric Dier’s thigh injury rules the Englishman out of this match, and Mousa Dembele also picked up a slight knock to his ankle early on against Wolves. This potentially paves the way for Victor Wanyama to make an appearance, although he is yet to fully recover from his long-term injury. Depending on the system that Pochettino employs, we could see in-form Harry Winks take up the central defensive role instead.
Predicted Starting XI’s
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; Kouyaté, Milivojević, McArthur; Townsend, Ayew, Zaha
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Trippier, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Sissoko, Winks; Lucas, Eriksen, Lamela; Kane
Score prediction: Crystal Palace 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Both sides have picked up a few goals in their last few matches and Palace should be confident enough to take the fight to their opposition. Tottenham are favourites to win this match, but will probably have to dig in to achieve it.
