please log in to view this image Saturday 11th September 12.30pm Premier League Selhurst Park The international break is finally over and we're back to the Premier League. A number of our players either haven't returned or have come back crocked, though. With some serious fixture congestion coming up, that's far from ideal. First up is the new look Crystal Palace who will be looking to bring our bright start to an end. Will their dirty ex-Goon manager mess up our start to the campaign or will Espirito Santo pick up another win? Palace's last campaign was the final season with Roy Hodgson at the helm. His four years there were pretty stable and safe, if a little unexciting and defensive-minded. The summer saw former Arsenal ****bag Patrick Vieira take his place, following a mid-season sacking by Nice. There was also a substantial turnover in the squad, as 10 senior players left and 9 joined to replace them. A focus on youth appears to be their way forward, which is potentially risky but could be rewarding. It's been a tricky opening few weeks for our hosts, who have yet to win a game. They've only lost two of their four matches though, so things aren't quite at Frank de Boer levels yet. Their opening loss at Stamford Bridge was followed by respectable draws with Brentford and West Ham. A League Cup loss at Vicarage Road divided those games, which was also their furthest they've traveled. Goals have been hard to come by, but they've just brought in Odsonne Edouard from Celtic. The trip to Selhurst Park last season was one of our usual score early, concede late and draw matches. Guaita put in an excellent performance between the sticks for them, but his error lead to our opener. He saved well from Ndombele and Kane before spilling a shot from the latter into the net. They grew back into the game after that and an error from Lloris allowed Schlupp to level it up. There was still time for more saves from the Palace keeper, as Kane and Dier both forced him into action: The match at our place was a lot more one-sided and there was little Guaita could do about it this time. Bale opened the scoring mid-way through the first half and we looked in good control of the match. Benteke equalised just before the break and a resurgence after half-time was a worrying possibility. It never arrived, as Bale put us back into the lead early on, as Kane notched his second assist. Kane then notched one himself and then got another later on to kill things off: Romero, Lo Celso and Sanchez are in isolation in Croatia for this game and probably Rennes, too. Son, Skipp, Bergwijn and Sessegnon all face late tests after picking up knocks on international duty. Ferguson and Eze may be absent for Palace. Neither side has any suspensions. Lineups for each side's last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Tanganga, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Skipp, Alli; Son, Kane, Bergwijn. Subs: Gollini, Doherty, Romero, Davies, Winks, Lo Celso, Sessegnon, Gil, Moura. Palace: Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; McArthur, Kouyate, Gallagher; Ayew, Benteke, Zaha. Subs: Butland, Kelly, Tomkins, Hannam, Riedewald, Schlupp, Rak-Sayki, Street, Mateta. Ref: Jonathan Moss. VAR: Jarred Gillett. TV: BT Sport 1. How would you like to line up for this one? Would you stick with much of the same lineup from the Watford game, tinker a little or change it completely? Which system and tactics would you use and what are you expecting Palace to go with?
Sat 12.30 ko F**K OFF , without the Covid 4 of our team are coming from halfway round the planet , Sky did this on purpose
I feel your pain mate...many is the time I have a world class rant ruined by a poxy fact ... never puts me off though
I have lived most of my life in Hertfordshire, the away game to Palacec was always the most hassle , many punch ups between the ground and crossing back over the Thames , one night game was like a remake of Warriors, I hate this ground and area with a passion , even now 40 yrs later when I go to the area for work I'm on edge , I would love to do serious damage to that drum as well , the only thing that will cheer me up is a win and the eagle attacking Simon Jordan. COYS
If PNP was as evil as me, he would post each Paul Stewart cup fixture at varying times of day (would be hilarious if he is an insomniac) .
I respect your vocation, but on this basis your obvious true profession was meant to be working for a UK/USA 'news' organisation.
Luckily nobody on this forum is from Croydon and might have things to say about your opinion of their area I mean there is someone from Croydon, but that's as far as it goes...
I would have deemed a late 70s / early 80s midweek away game at Millwall to be the closest comparison to The Warriors (their supporters then were mental enough then to have set train lines on fire erc) .
I remember Croydon in the 60s when it was a posh venue Crystal Palace were in the 3rd division fresh from the 4th. Palace and Millwall players used to com to my school to teach football or in the case of Eamon Dunphy never let us kids get near the ball untill us kids ganged up on him and dumped Dumphy . He did not see the joke
I only went to the old Den once, they were a charming bunch of fellows who gave a warm welcome and the pleasant aroma of Cold Blow Lane along with the friendly waves from those Bushwacker chaps will long live in my memory
