Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace: Preview and Prediction
Tottenham Hotspur is all set to host Crystal Palace in North London with both sides looking for consistency when they lock horns at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, in Matchday 35 of the Premier League. Both Spurs and Palace have had some mixed results of late and they will look to build momentum ahead of the final stretch of games this season.
The hosts come into this fixture on the back of a 4-3 upset against Liverpool, whereas the Eagles defeated West Ham by a similar margin last weekend.
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Lilywhites ever since they sacked Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini stepped in on an interim basis but lasted less than a month in the role and left the club recently with Ryan Mason taking charge as caretaker until a permanent manager is found.
Their opponents, Palace have also had a managerial change with Roy Hodgson taking over for his second spell at the club, until the end of the season. Patrick Viera had been dismissed earlier after the South-London-based club had failed to win a single game in 2023.
Current Form
Spurs are currently in sixth place on the Premier League standings, with 54 points from 34 matches, although they’ve won just one of their past five games in the league a 2-1 win over Brighton. Since then, the club have lost three games against Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Liverpool and they shared the spoils with Manchester United.
Last month, Spurs were placed fourth and Conte was furious with his players after they drew 3-3 with bottom-placed Southampton and blew a chance to surpass United and climb to third place. Now, they’re fighting to make it into the top four, as they trail Erik Ten Hag’s side by 9 points and the Red Devils also have two games in hand.
Talking about Palace, they’ve managed to amass 40 points on the board in 34 league outings. Since taking over in South London, Hodgson has guided his side to four wins, including three in a row against Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton. The Eagles played out a 0-0 stalemate with Crystal Palace and suffered a disappointing 0-2 reverse against Wolves but responded well with a hard-fought 4-3 win over West Ham.
Head-to-Head Record
These two clubs have squared off on 24 occasions in the past across all competitions, with Spurs claiming 15 wins whereas Palace have only managed to win five times, and 4 matches have ended in a stalemate.
The return fixture earlier this season was won by the Lilywhites as they hammered four goals past the Selhurst Park-based outfit.
Team News
Zaha will look to continue his scoring streak after netting against West Ham
Mason has quite a few big names missing for the important game this weekend, Oliver Skipp remains doubtful after being clattered by a high boot from Diogo Jota. Skipper Hugo Lloris also remains a doubt due to his hip problem, while Emerson Royal (knee), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) and Yves Bissouma (ankle) are all expected to be unavailable.
Hodgson meanwhile doesn’t have too many absentees through injuries and will have the luxury to call up almost a full-strength squad barring a few players. Wilfried Zaha picked up a knock last week but should be fine to start again, Nathan Ferguson remains a long-term absentee with a torn muscle and James Tomkins is also sidelined with an unspecified problem.
Naouirou Ahamada remains doubtful and a late assessment might be needed given his ankle injury, although the Spurs clash comes a tad bit early for Nathaniel Clyne who has only just returned to training after a knee issue.
Predicted Starting XIs
Tottenham (3-4-3): Fraser Forster; Eric Dier, Cristian Romero, Ben Davies; Pedro Porro, Pape Sarr, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ivan Perisic; Richarlison, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min.
Crystal Palace (3-4-3): Sam Johnstone; Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi, Tyrick Mitchell; Eberechi Eze, Cheick Doucoure, Jeffrey Schlupp; Michael Olise, Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha
Prediction
Given Spurs’ recent woes and Palace’s resurgence under Hodgson, this contest has the makings of an epic London derby. Although the Lilywhites have improved under Mason and all things considered, 2-2 might be the most likely outcome.