Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace

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Sunday 13th December 2.15pm
Premier League
Selhurst Park​

Europa League football goes on the backburner for a while now, as we hit the congested Christmas schedule.
Putting it away with a win, a clean sheet and topping the group was a nice touch, though.
We've got three Premier League games in 8 days now and they're all quite tricky.
Palace start us off and they're quite erratic and unpredictable, results wise.
Can Mourinho continue this streak of good results or will Hodgson cause an upset?

Our hosts had a mixed campaign last time out and struggled to score goals.
Their highest scoring win was only 2-0, which they've already bettered three times and they finished 14th.
Things were looking more promising around the time that the lockdown happened, but they ended abysmally.
They won the first game back to move into 9th place before plunging down the table with 7 consecutive losses.
How much mentality had to do with this is unknown, but they were already safe and not likely to push for Europe.

This season has been something of a reversal for them, as they're scoring more but conceding more, too.
There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to their results either, which is typical for this weird year.
Wins against Southampton and Man Utd started things off, followed with losses to Everton and Chelsea.
Big scoring wins against Leeds and West Brom sandwiched scoreless losses to Burnley and Newcastle.
Hard to know which Palace are going to turn up.

Our trip to Selhurst Park ended the campaign in July, as we secured the point we needed for the Europa.
Kane gave us an early lead, as Lo Celso put him in after some poor defending from Palace.
We seemed happy enough with that and played within ourselves for the rest of the match, unfortunately.
Schlupp put them level after the break and both teams seemed fairly happy with that result.
A deflected cross nearly gave them the points though, as it struck the post having deceived Lloris:

The game at our place was one of the last highlights of Pochettino's time at the club, as we won easily.
Son put us ahead from a long Alderweireld pass and we never looked back after that.
Aurier's shot was deflected home by van Aanholt before Son added another two minutes later.
Lamela made it 4-0 before the break, arriving late in the box to strike home a Kane cross.
There were a few chances to add to the score, but the second half was far more sedate and sensible:

Lamela is still out for this one, while Aurier faces a late assessment.
Wickham, Kelly, Hennessey and Ferguson all miss out for the hosts, while Mitchell may be ok after a cold.
Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon; Sissoko, Hojbjerg; Bergwijn, Lo Celso, Son; Kane.
Subs: Hart, Rodon, Davies, Winks, Bale, Moura, Vinicius.
League form: WWWWDW.

Palace: Guaita; Clyne, Kouyate, Cahill, van Aanholt; Schlupp, McArthur, Milivojevic, Eze; Zaha, Benteke.
Subs: Butland, Ward, Riedewald, Sakho, Townsend, Ayew, Batshuayi.
League form: WLWLLW.

Ref: Kevin Friend. VAR: Simon Hooper.

TV: Sky Sports.

How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Antwerp game?
Would you stick with much of the same lineup, make a few changes or go for a wholesale switch?
Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Palace to go with?

 

Is the squad at the stage where (except for the games against the usual suspects) :

1. the full-backs can be starting XI rotated on alternate games ??
2. Similar rotation for one only of GLC and NDombele starting ??


"Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Palace to go with?"

I will be quite if we repeat the "300" formation of the past 3 PL games.
I expect Palace will be quite chirpy, as their recent PL form has been ok.

 

Hugo, Serge, Toby, Dier, Reggi , PEH , Sissoko, Steve B, Son, Kane , GLC,
I am useless at fantasy football so expect a 3-0 drubbing from Woys boys

 

Apart from Steve B, this is the team I would fancy for liverpool next week. So it might be good to save some of these for liverpool.

 

I would have liked to see more of the squad play but we are in a run of games until the new year where Jose is going to get the team to dig deep and hope that we come through with minimum injuries , hopefully we can get in front on Sunday and bring on the likes of GB,Ndom, Vinni Davis and Lucas to see the game out

 

Paul Stewart

 

If we get in front, Jose will bring all the defenders from off the bench!

 

Good to see you are ok mate!

 

Whoa, nice to see you fella.

A lot have been missing across the boards and in the present climate nobody really knew why, it's good to know people are still with us

 

Yeah echoing what RCL and Diego said, good to see you back, Luke

 

Welcome back.

 

Gonna be hard to predict lineups now I reckon. I’d imagine there might be rotation at fullback as well as with Gio and Tanguy. The RW position may fluctuate too.

With Pool in mind, maybe something like this for Palace:

Hugo
Doherty, Toby, Dier, Davies
Sissoko, Hojbjerg, Tanguy
Bale, Kane, Son

Then with Aurier, Reggie, Gio and Bergwijn coming in for the Pool game? Still unsure as to how long Aurier is meant to be out for though so there may be a chance for Tanganga if he’s not recovered.

 

Gary Cahill has rubbished suggestions that Harry Kane is a dirty player

So for those keeping count
-The CB didn't complain
-The opposition captain didn't complain
-The opposition manager didn't complain
-The ref didn't complain
-The linesman didn't complain
-VAR didn't complain
-People on r/soccer with Liverpool, Man Utd or Arsenal flairs? They complain, a lot

 

So, 2 pts up for grabs regarding the "season compass" , and
results yesterday for the usual suspects going Spurs way.

With the Poool game imminent, today will be an interesting
test of the squad resolve today to get the job done as
efficiently and decisively as possible.

 

I don't care how Spurs play, I don't care about mistakes, I don't care if we defend like there's no tomorrow and nor do I care who's playing and is on the bench.

Just get the 3 points!

 

This is a must win, doesn't have to be pretty. Then a draw might be acceptable at Klanfield.

 

Any pts taken in that game is a bonus on the "season compass" .

 

Compass is one measure. Doing as well or better than every other team in the league each week is my measure. I think 84 points will be enough to win it this year.