Crystal Palace vs Tottenham – Match Preview
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London derbies seem to be the order of the day for Tottenham as of late and this weekend is no different as Mauricio Pochettino’s men make the relatively short trip to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Not only that but it is the second cup tie that Tottenham will play against London based opponents in the space of just three days, as before the weekend’s activities there is the small matter of facing Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Semi-final second leg.
How Tottenham fare in that fixture at Stamford Bridge may well give us a steer on just how well they then do against Crystal Palace. This week could well be a pivotal one in terms of their season, as they could possibly be dumped out of two cup competitions.
That of course is the worst case scenario, with the best one obviously being that they go on to advance in both the Carabao and FA Cup competitions respectively, however with Tottenham’s threadbare squad that could prove to be wishful thinking.
They may well have won away at Fulham last Sunday in dramatic circumstances after Harry Winks headed home in the dying seconds, however you do have to ask yourself as to at what cost exactly after Dele Alli limped off injured.
The England international went off with a hamstring problem with a handful of minutes remaining and his absence will only add to a list of missing players that is becoming far too long for the Tottenham medical staff.
Alli joins Kane in terms of major absentees through medical reasons, while one should not forget the fact that Heung min-Son is also missing due to South Korea’s continued participation in this year’s Asian Cup.
And it is that list of missing players that will play right into the hands of Crystal Palace who will look to exact some revenge on Tottenham after they earned a slender 1-0 win at Selhurst Park, when the two teams met in the league.
Juan Foyth was the hero that time, although Crystal Palace will be looking for a hero of their own this time around. Not only that though, but they will be keen to build on an impressive performance at Anfield last weekend.
One that although they ended up losing, they pushed Liverpool all the way in a frenetic seven goal thriller. 4-3 was the eventual final score, although at one point it looked as if Andros Townsend was going to play a part in Palace claiming another league scalp.
Unfortunately for them they could not follow up on that impressive win over Manchester City before the end of last year as Jurgen Klopp’s men reinforced their Premier League winning credentials with an eventual hard fought win.
This game on Sunday really could go either way, especially if Tottenham have to expend every last drop of energy in their meeting with Chelsea on Thursday. The best the visitors can hope for is a draw and the replay to follow in 10 or so days.
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