Tottenham Hotspur host Crystal Palace at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a London derby.
Victory would see Tottenham move up to sixth in the table unless Aston Villa can overtake them on goal difference, whilst Palace can stay 11th with a win.
Team News
Oliver Skipp is set to be available for Tottenham after he was substituted in their defeat at Liverpool with a head injury.
Hugo Lloris (muscle), Emerson Royal (knee), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Rodrigo Bentancur (ACL), and Yves Bissouma (ankle) remain absent.
Crystal Palace could be without Wilfried Zaha after he suffered a minor knee injury during their win against West Ham last weekend.
Nathaniel Clyne (knee) is set to return but Nathan Ferguson and James Tomkins (both muscle) are ruled out.
When is Kick-Off
Tottenham host Palace in a 3pm BST kick-off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 6 May, albeit untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Tottenham have lost just one of their last eight meetings against Crystal Palace (W5, D2, L1).
- Crystal Palace have lost their last six visits to Spurs in all competitions (L6).
- Five of Spurs’ last seven league goals have been scored by Harry Kane and Son Heung-min (W2), with Kane netting three goals to Son’s two goals.
- Tottenham are yet to score from a free-kick this season in the Premier League.
- No Palace player has been utilised as a substitute on more occasions in the Premier League this season than Jean-Philippe Mateta – who has made 21 appearances from the bench.
Prediction
With their top-four dreams now all but over, Tottenham now need to set about salvaging an Europa League or Europa Conference League spot but it is a tough ask with Aston Villa and Brentford breathing down their neck – who are their next two opponents after this match.
Victory therefore is imperative but they need to start playing on the front foot again after sloppy starts in their last three games, from which they were lucky to recover to almost draw at Liverpool until Lucas Moura’s sloppy late pass was clinically punished.
Palace meanwhile in contrast to Spurs enjoyed better fortune in their own seven-goal thriller against West Ham, where they were excellent in their attacking play with clinical end product and positive energy in their passes – amidst poor set-piece marking in contrast to their open play performance.
Now if Roy Hodgson’s Eagles can bring that quality into this game with tidier set-piece defending, I can see them really causing issues if they can immediately press Tottenham’s vulnerable defence from the first whistle.
Do that then I fancy Palace to get a result otherwise Tottenham should get a home win but it won’t be an easy London derby by any stretch.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-1 Crystal Palace
Result: Tottenham 1-0 Crystal Palace
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