Match Threads Palace vs Spurs - Match Thread - Day 4 - KO 12:30pm

[Bulletspur]

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We will seek a fourth win from as many matches in Saturday's London derby with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. We prevailed 1-0 against Watford before the international break, while Palace rescued a point in a 2-2 with West Ham United.

Facing a third London derby in as many weeks, Crystal Palace were only able to boast one point from their first two clashes with Chelsea and Brentford before making the journey to take on a rampant West Ham side just before the break. Twice Palace fell behind to strikes from Fornals and Antonio, but twice they clawed their way back into the game thanks to a second-half brace from Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher in a pulsating encounter at the London Stadium.

Still waiting for their first win of the season, the signs were positive for Patrick Vieira’s new-look Palace side in the capital, although the 14th-placed outfit must now face us, Liverpool, Arsenal and Leicester City all in the space of five weeks. An early EFL Cup exit to Watford did dampen Palace's spirits somewhat, but having opened their account for the Premier League season at the third attempt, the Eagles will seek to end a poor run of league form which has seen them claim just two wins from their last 12 matches.

The Eagles will make history this week as the first Premier League side ever to open a season with four London derbies on the trot, but they can only boast five shots on target from their opening three encounters before they somehow attempt to break our defensive resolve.

There was certainly an element of fortune about our win over Watford - with Son’s free kick evading everyone before nestling into the back of the net - but a third consecutive 1-0 triumph in the league is only a positive thing for us.

Having conducted our summer business with aplomb - all while convincing Kane to put his Manchester City dream on hold - we are reaping the rewards of our summer of change and are the only side in the division to have claimed maximum points from our opening three matches.

Our perfect record sees us sitting pretty at the top of the pile - two points clear of the five sides currently sitting on seven points - and we have also secured a safe passage into the Europa Conference League group stages despite an early scare against Pacos de Ferreira.

French powerhouse Rennes await us in their inaugural group-stage clash on Thursday night before the visit of Chelsea on September 19, so the trip to Palace may not rank all that high on our priority list, but the we will not want to pass up the opportunity to steer further clear of our rivals. We travel to Selhurst Park on a 12-game unbeaten streak against Palace in the Premier League - winning 10 of them - although the last two encounters at Selhurst Park have seen our clubs shake hands on a 1-1 draw.

Team News

Crystal Palace boss Vieira is confident that Luka Milvoievic will be ready to return in time for Saturday, while there is also optimism that Michael Olise could make his debut for the club this weekend.

The Eagles' transfer business went right to the wire as they struck late deals for Odsonne and Will Hughes, both of whom should be in contention to feature here.

However, Christian Benteke will aim to hold his place up top for now, while Zaha will finally aim to break his goalscoring duck against us at the 13th attempt.

Meanwhile, our trio of Sanchez, Romera and Lo Celso can all reportedly expect fines for linking up with their South American teams during the international break and will not feature here due to quarantine.

We have also been handed a scare over Son Heung-min, who withdrew from the South Korea squad with a tight calf, while Bergwijn, Skipp and Sessegnon are also fresh injury concerns.

With Tanganga potentially deputising in defence for Sanchez,Emerson could make his debut for the club at right-back, while Gil could benefit from the possible absences of Son and Bergwijn.

Head to Head

We first played each other on Saturday 12th January 1924 where they beat us 2-0 in the FA Cup. Since then we have played each other 53 times, winning 28, they have won 10 so far and 15 drawn.

This is made up of:

League - Played 44 where we are winning 25, they have won 6 so far and 13 drawn

FA Cup – Played 7 where we won 2, they won 4 and 1 drawn

League – Cup – Played 2 where we won 1 and 1 drawn

Banner courtesy of @chrissivad

 

[yankspurs]

Please win tomorrow, Tottenham. It is going to be a very tough day here in the states as we mark 20 years since 9/11 so would love a win here.

 

[Erm33]

Another 1-0 win will do nicely

 

[hughy]

1-1.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Expecting a really tough game when you factor in our injuries / kick off time / venue

 

[Serpico]

Steady game and no errors win this. Vieira is proberbly out of his depth as most x players believing they can manage a football team are. Nuno will out play him as experience should count and often tells. We need Son fiT and Kane is showing signs of good form.

 

[chrisd2k]

Just seen the team bus in Purley. Going the wrong way though so must be staying at a nicer hotel around here as there's no nice hotels in Palace lol

 

[homer hotspur]

It feels like everything is conspiring against us for this one. I think a point would be a decent outcome under all the circumstances. I hate international breaks.

 

[Oscar22]

This feels like our first proper ‘ffs’ game of the season where the stupid internationals and our injury list makes us a bit clunky, disjointed and out of sorts.
Feeling like it might be a typical game for a lot of huff and puff and a late Benteke goal.

Of course, I will happily be proved wrong and would love to see us go 4/4.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Pretty reliable when it comes to line ups ?

 

[Cornpattbuck]

Pretty reliable when it comes to line ups ?

Wasn't that all pretty obvious though? Three of them are in Croatia for a start...

 

[Cornpattbuck]

Never an easy game against Palace. Nearly always seems to be a close call, even though we've won there quite a bit. Lots of last minute winners if memory serves. ??

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Wasn't that all pretty obvious though? Three of them are in Croatia for a start...

I think Skipp is a surprise considering he was pictured in training, will be a massive loss considering we will have no Sanchez too.

 

[Erm33]

So Kane, Gil and Lucas as a front 3 and depending on formation you could have winks, PEH and Dele as the midfield 3 if we're sticking with a back 4 of Emerson, Tanganga, Dier and Reguilon.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

I think Skipp is a surprise considering he was pictured in training, will be a massive loss considering we will have no Sanchez too.

Ah, busy day. Hadn't realised Skipp had managed training. Had presumed he was a write off. Oh well, fingers crossed Nuno has worked out a solution. ??

 

[SonicSarr]

Ah, busy day. Hadn't realised Skipp had managed training. Had presumed he was a write off. Oh well, fingers crossed Nuno has worked out a solution. ??

If we are going from the training vid then N'Dombele is starting.

 

[BosSpurs08]

I'll happily take the customary, scrappy 1-0 away win, though my gut says a disappointing 1-1 draw. This is a big one for a number of reasons, all of which shape the way this season might go:

• I'm not comfortable thinking of us as top 4 contenders (yet), but a win here coupled with 3-4 points out of Chelsea/Arsenal will put us on a great course.
• Nuno has done well so far with a fixed lineup, and this will be the first time he'll be forced into something different, which will be an interesting window into how he'll adapt when other clubs start poking holes in our back 4 plus Skipp/PEH shield. Will we shift to a back three (and will it work if true)? Will we utilize Lucas or Bryan in more of a central playmaking role? Or does Kane drop in from the 9 with Lucas/Bryan flying past him?
• Big chance for some players not in the squad to step up. Someone like Bryan could really make a case for more minutes. I can also envision a scenario where Tanguy gets minutes off the bench, especially if we concede early or are looking to break a late deadlock. Hell, maybe even Sess or Scarlett gets a run out off the bench. Point being - given absences there are probably going to be more minutes available than obvious players able to play them, so there probably will be a surprise or two somewhere.

Result depends on how well our backline holds up, but my hopeful prediction is that Bryan will be involved in creating a goal.

 

[wiggo24]

Shaping up to be a massive bogey fixture with all the injuries and international break dramas, and against a type of team which Nuno (and Spurs as a club) have struggled with in the past.

Solid win with a lot of changes and I'd be very pleasantly surprised. Don't think it's going to be pretty but with Arsenal and Chelsea coming up it's a really big game.

 

[JCRD]

6-1 Spurs COYS

 

[fletch82]

My man to come in and tear palace apart and cement his place in the starting xi
Viva la Bryan