Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Preview: Team News & Prediction
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To finish the festive weekend of Premier League football, there is a London derby in Croydon as Crystal Palace welcome under pressure Tottenham Hotspur.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Sky Sports / USA – USA Network
How to watch online: UK – Sky Go / USA – Telemundo
Crystal Palace preview: Busy Palace
The extremely congested schedule for Crystal Palace has continued in the couple of weeks with the Eagles playing two UEFA Europa Conference League games, two Premier League matches and an EFL Cup tie in the space of 12 days.
The latter of that, a quarter-final clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, saw Marc Guehi score a second-half stoppage-time equaliser to take the game to a penalty shootout that they lost against the Gunners.
Tottenham preview: Under pressure Frank
Having replaced Ange Postecoglou over the summer, Thomas Frank began well and Tottenham Hotspur have been improved in the league this season. However, the former Brentford boss is now under major pressure for his job.
Spurs went down to nine men against Liverpool last weekend and eventually succumbed to a 2-1 loss to the Reds, meaning they have won six of their last 20 matches across all competitions since a strong start to the season.
Crystal Palace team news: Nketiah to be back
Oliver Glasner has said that he hopes United States international defender Chris Richards will hopefully have definitely returned against Fulham but he remains hopeful he could play against Spurs, too.
However, former Arsenal and Leeds United striker Eddie Nketiah is much more likely to be back involved after recovering from a recent knock.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Clyne, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Nketiah, Pino; Mateta
Unavailable: Kporha (Injured), Riad (Injured), Cardines (Injured), Munoz (Injured), Doucoure (Injured), Kamada (Injured), Sarr (International duty)
Questionable: Richards (Injured), Nketiah (Injured)
Tottenham team news: No Romero or Simons
Tottenham head down to Croydon without key centre-back Cristian Romero and Netherlands international attacker Xavi Simons, as both players are missing through suspension.
They also have a few injury absentees, too, as the likes of Destiny Udogie, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke are unavailable.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Bergvall, Richarlison; Kolo Muani
Unavailable: Dragusin (Fitness), Romero (Suspended), Takai (Injured), Udogie (Injured), Bissouma (International duty), Sarr (International duty), Simons (Suspended), Kulusevski (Injured), Maddison (Injured), Solanke (Injured)
Questionable:
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham prediction
The energy and intensity of Oliver Glasner’s preferred style of play will have always inevitably taken a massive hit for Palace, as they try to deal with domestic and UEFA Europa Conference League commitments. Spurs head to Selhurst Park trying to find any sort of cohesion, in both defence and attack, and, even with potential fatigue, Palace have to be viewed as slight favourites, or to at least avoid defeat here.
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham tip: Double chance – Crystal Palace to win or draw
