Match Preview: Spurs vs Crystal Palace (My prediction, team news, lineups and much more… including fingers crossed)
Match Preview: Spurs vs Crystal Palace (My prediction, team news, lineups and much more… including fingers crossed)
After drawing with Manchester United and a defeat (against the Scousers) under Mason’s watch, what will the Palace game dredge up? We are not having a good season, and if we don’t buck our ideas up, we could be finishing 9th in the league… no European football whatsoever. We won’t even qualify for the Micky Mouse Europa Conference failure league.
Both clubs were involved in dramatic seven-goal games last weekend. We were beaten again 4-3, while Crystal Palace beat the Spammers by the same score line.
Seven days after our Newcastle United mauling (self-inflicted, even), a similar story appeared to be occurring for us travelling faithful at Anfield. Yes, Liverpool stormed into a 3-0 lead with just 15 minutes gone. Was this deja vu all over again? Some of our supporters started leaving… but then the fightback began. Harry Kane, Son and Richarlison scored, only for Diogo Jota to sink us with a sucker punch in added time.
Palace…
Having failed to find the back of the net against Everton or Wolves, some thought that Roy Hodgson’s powers over his Palace attackers had diminished. Still, such concerns were laid to rest during their game against the Spammers last weekend.
Thanks to a fourth win from six games since Hodgson rejoined the Selhurst Park brigade, Palace have leapfrogged Chelski into 11th place in the table.
Hodgson’s impact in such a short space of time has been nothing short of brilliant. No doubt they hope to carry on where they left off against the bubble-blowing-struggling Spammers.
Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:
DWLLDL
Crystal Palace Premier League form:
WWWDLW
Team News
Skipp’s last weekend injury has put him in doubt for Saturday’s game, so Pape Sarr should be on standby.
Emerson Royal and Rodrigo Bentancur remain out with their long-term knee injuries. The same goes for Yves Bissouma (ankle) and Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring) – while Hugo Lloris is yet to recover from a hip problem and may not be ready for a comeback.
Richarlison, who also picked up a yellow card for a shirt-stripping celebration, may start over Dejan Kulusevski. At the same time, Eric Dier’s spot may come under threat after another dissatisfactory display last weekend.
My possible starting lineup:
Forster; Romero, Dier, Davies; Porro, Hojbjerg, Pape Sarr, Perisic; Richarlison, Kane, Son
My prediction…
God knows… after the last couple of months ( being beaten by the likes of Wolves and Bournemouth and drawing with Everton), who knows what the Gods will throw up?
I’ll say 3-2 to us, but at the same time, it wouldn’t surprise me if we lost this one, either. However, if we lose this, the fans will go apeshit. And you can guess who the finger will be pointed at? The Clown Prince himself.
Granted, we have commendably responded to adversity in Mason’s first two games in charge. Having given both Liverpool and Manchester United a good run for their money, I expect our attack to click once more and propel us to a hard-fought win. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if we went a couple of goals down for our team to wake up and hopefully fight back and win the game.
Our Next Manager…
Where are we in the managerial search? According to the Evening Standard, Daniel Levy wants to make a ‘quick appointment’. The paper has suggested that Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, Arne Slot and Vincent Kompany are the four leading contenders and suggested that Daniel Levy is expected to talk to several candidates over the coming weeks.
The Evening Standard has also revealed that Levy has spoken to Nagelsmann and Enrique and is now seeking dialogue with the other candidates to narrow down the shortlist. Why anybody would want to work with Levy is beyond me… unless he can give the next manager assurances that he will butt out and allow the next manager and the Director of football (whoever he will be) complete autonomy in dealing with the transfers and that the kitty will be a big one (as we have a lot of dead wood in the team, which need replacing).
COYS!
Glenn