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Preview: Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to keep hold of top spot in the Premier League come the end of the weekend as they make the trip to London rivals Crystal Palace.

Spurs enter matchday 11 in first place, level on points with reigning champions Liverpool and two in front of Chelsea, following a run of 10 top-flight games without defeat.

Palace head into Sunday's match at Selhurst Park on the back of a morale-boosting 5-1 win over West Bromwich Albion last time out, a win that moved them up to 11th place.


Match preview

Tottenham Hotspur's Carlos Vinicius celebrates scoring against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on December 10, 2020© Reuters

As the season enters the festive period, Tottenham can be delighted with their campaign to date on multiple fronts.

The Lilywhites have an EFL Cup quarter-final trip to Stoke City on the horizon, are through to the knockout stages of the Europa League and are top of the Premier League.

There is no doubt that finishing top of the domestic league for the first time since 1961 is the top priority for Spurs fans, but any sort of silverware would be appreciated.

Spurs kept their momentum going with a 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday, picking up the win needed to finish above their opponents at the top of Group J.

That ensures Tottenham will be among the seeded sides at Monday's last-32 draw, though Mourinho will happily put that competition to one side until its resumption in February.

For now the Premier League is all that counts, and Spurs find themselves in a very strong position thanks to a return of 24 points from 30 since losing to Everton on matchday one.

Last week's 2-0 win over Arsenal followed a victory by the same scoreline against Manchester City and another clean sheet in a stalemate with Chelsea.

Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke celebrates scoring against West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on December 6, 2020© Reuters

Spurs have proved they are capable of mixing it with the division's elite, and now they have a chance to stay in front of Liverpool ahead of next week's showdown between the sides.

That will be a truly massive game, but Mourinho's men cannot take their eye off the ball this weekend, even if Palace have had an up-and-down campaign to date.

The Eagles were given a helping hand by Matheus Pereira's sending-off in last week's big win over West Brom, that victory following defeats to Burnley and Newcastle United.

Roy Hodgson's side failed to register in those two losses, though they did put four past Leeds United and five past the Baggies.

To put that into some context, they managed to score four or more goals in just three of their first 117 games under Hodgson.

However, Tottenham have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Palace and are unbeaten in 10 in this fixture, winning nine of those.

Crystal Palace Premier League form: WLWLLW

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form: WWWWDW
Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions): WWDDWW


Team News

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele pictured in training in March 2020© Reuters

Mourinho made nine changes to Tottenham's starting lineup for the game with Antwerp - Sergio Reguilon and star man Giovani Lo Celso the only two to retain their places in the side.

However, with the game still finely poised with an hour played, Mourinho turned to Harry Kane and Son Heung-min to help Spurs complete the job.

Tanguy Ndombele was also introduced, having been forced out of the North London derby with a minor issue, leaving Serge Aurier and Erik Lamela as Tottenham's only fitness concerns.

Kane is certain to lead the line as he looks to build on an incredible return of 20 goals and 11 assists in 29 Premier League appearances under Mourinho.

As for Palace, they will be without injured quarter Connor Wickham, Martin Kelly, Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Ferguson.

Luka Milivojevic was handed just a third league start of the campaign last time out and, given the result against West Brom, he looks likely to stay in central midfield.

Christian Benteke scored twice in that match, the Belgian matching his tally from his previous 31 top-flight appearances.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Clyne, Kouyate, Cahill, Van Aanholt; Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze; Zaha, Benteke

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Sissoko, Hojbjerg Bergwijn, Ndombele, Son; Kane


SM words green background

We say: Crystal Palace 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs are unbeaten in eight away league matches since early July, winning five of those and keeping a clean sheet in each of the last three.

Palace returned to winning ways last time out but they tend to struggle in this fixture and we are going with a routine Spurs win.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:


ID:426056:cQx

Who will win Sunday's Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Spurs?

Crystal Palace
10.5%
Draw
9.4%
Tottenham Hotspur
80.1%
191
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Jamie Carragher pictured in December 2018
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rhs 2.0
Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1384129191028
2Tottenham HotspurSpurs1374225121325
3Southampton137332518724
4Leicester CityLeicester138052417724
5Everton137242318523
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd127232219323
7Chelsea1364326141222
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham136342116521
9Manchester CityMan City125521812620
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves136251317-420
11Aston Villa116142113819
12Crystal Palace135351918118
13Leeds UnitedLeeds135262224-217
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125251621-517
15Arsenal134271116-514
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton132561521-611
17Burnley12246618-1210
18Fulham132381222-109
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom131481026-167
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd130112724-171

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