please log in to view this image Saturday 23rd January 3pm Selhurst Park Premier League No, it's not Leicester again. They're finally out of the way now. Palace's fans have been pretty impressive since their return to the Premier League. They haven't had much to shout about in recent weeks though, so they'll see this as a big opportunity. They'll be looking for a change in goalscoring form in order to do so. They've failed to find the net in the last five league games. The reverse fixture saw our first home win of the campaign. Son scored the only goal of the game, but the visitors definitely had their moments. Cabaye's shot that hit the post was probably the closest that they came to scoring. Palace's best performances this season have seen them stretch play with pacey wingers. Cabaye is their most creative player in the middle and his ability to pick them out can be key. Shutting him down could be very important. There's been a lot of rotation recently, so our lineup may be a bit difficult to predict. The fullbacks have been changed repeatedly and there's been a number of switches in midfield. I'd expect to see a lot of the players that started against Sunderland, though. We don't appear to have any new injury concerns and Pritchard's back in training, too. Lineups for the last league game: Spurs: Lloris; Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Dembele; Lamela, Alli, Eriksen; Kane. Subs: Vorm, Wimmer, Davies, Carroll, Onomah, Chadli, Son. League form: WWWDLW. Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Ledley, Cabaye, McArthur; Puncheon, Wickham, Zaha. Subs: Speroni, Kelly, Lee, Jedinak, Mutch, Campbell, Chamakh. League form: WDDLLL. Referee: Martin Atkinson. Has Son earned a start with his midweek display and if so, where should he slot in? Which of our fullback pairings will be best suited to Palace's width and pace? Does anyone look too knackered to be picked for this one?
"Has Son earned a start with his midweek display and if so, where should he slot in?" Do you think the Palace MF/defence will be as bad as Leicester in the PL game ?? If not, Pochettino could try Son and Chadli again from the start and have Kane as sub.
"There should be some sort of Paul Stewart match symbol." <LDL> The boy is fast to pounce on that one.
Just because it features a couple of our mutual old boys and I just mentioned one of them on another thread:
Unless there's a clause in Dier's contract that obliges us to pay Sporting an additional £80m if he plays less than 56 games a season, I think it's high time the lad got a rest. I agree that Son deserves a start - but that must be from his strongest position out on the left. I'd drop Lamela too as he's been a bit out of sorts recently - the clip PNP kindly posted above shows how crucial he can be to the team: his strength and perseverance to win the ball on the edge of our box and then get his head up to launch a counter were utterly superb and for me was a real turning point in my love-hate relationship with the Argentine I also think we'll need Rose and Walker to nullify the pace they boast on the flanks. I wouldn't mind seeing: Hugo Walker Toby Jan Rose Bentaleb Dembele Alli Eriksen Son Kane
Anyone know of any away pubs I can go on Saturday? I haven't ventured down South London since I went Chelsea the season where Sandro scored a wonder strike but Kalou scored Chelsea's offside winner after we earlier conceded a goal that didn't fully cross the line from Gomes' flap. I'd go for: Hugo Tripps, Toby, Jan, Rose Dier, Dembele Alli, Eriksen, Son Kane Vorm, Davies, Wimmer, Walker, Nabs, Carroll, Lamela. CK makes valid points on resting Dier and playing Walker to nullify the pace but I just feel Dier is playing too well to drop and even though Walker will keep pace with whoever plays on his side, he'll just probably pass them the ball at some stage for them to go through on goal. He looked much better against Leicester to be fair to him but the mistakes have started creeping back into his game of late so maybe one or two more games from the bench to make him really work and earn that spot back will do him and the team in general some good. I'll have no qualms though should Walker start, what I really like about our FB options is that I'm comfortable with whoever plays as we have four very good fullbacks, both sides have different types and styles so it's a nice mixture to have and choose from for Poch.
They got Bolasie missing. That seems to have stumped them. No goals in 5 now. There is potential for Spursy to rear it's ugly head with that nugget of a fact. Rest Dier,play Alli alongside Dembele. Son,Eriksen,Onomah. The youngster is a busy player and I think would support Rose's forages with his own busy attitude. Think we are better than Palace on the wings and should rip them a new one on each flank and stretching their central players. This giving Eriksen, Alli and Moussa a bit more space in the middle to outdo Cabaye. By far their most intelligent player.
I rarely disagree with CK, but will point out Son played on the right Wednesday. I’m not sure he’s better there, but surely he’s as good as on the left or in the center, which makes him our only real right-sided goal threat (other than Kane). Lamela’s had quite a good season there while looking far too left-footed to actually attack from the right side. Lloris Trippier Alderweireld Vertonghen Rose Alli Dembélé Son Eriksen Lamela Kane I can’t decide whether to leave out Dier or Son, mainly because I don’t know if starting Son twice in a week is a good idea at this point. I do know Dier needs a rest at some point, and Palace without Bolasie seems a decent choice. Kane and Alderweireld finally got rests versus Leicester. It’s Dier’s turn now. While I think Son is simply too good at creating goals to leave out of the lineup, I would rather rest other starters in turn than bench either our youngest rising start or the player who epitimizes what Pochettino wants from his players. I’m intrigued as to why Eriksen is suddenly rejuvenated. Could Pochettino be cutting his training workload? I hope he is, and that he does the same with other players, especially when there are two games a week.
"I'll leave this here. You just know its going to happen don't you." Providing it is only the one goal, and we still win, I won't be complaining.
It`s nailed on Palace will score but hopefully Spurs score more, Palace are overdue a goal and overdue a win, it would be so Spursy for their fortunes to change against us.
I’m so used to bemoaning the Spursiness of always facing opponents when they’re in form, Palace has got me flummoxed. But, yes, surely they’ll get right back to scoring ways against the PL’s best defence. What could be more inevitable? In any case, the thing we need is a win, not a draw. To get a win, we need at least one goal. That by itself should indicate we play Son, since he’s averaging one (goal + assist) in < 90 minutes. Next best is Kane, with one per 125.
Palace have showed for much of the season that they can mix it with anyone and have one of the best (most vociferous) fan bases in the PL - especially at home. So we don't want to give them any sort of foothold. We should be looking to win every game with the strength of our team/squad and Bolasie missing for them is very significant, but still wouldn't put it past them turning us over. Personally would opt for our strongest available starting 11 and that would include the better defensive capabilities of Dier and Davies.
Didn't Leicester have a similar scoring record in the prem before they played us in the league 2 weeks back? It's all so predictably spursy
Pardew's teams have a habit of starting well then fading and Palace is no different. I just cannot see Spurs losing this one and in fact see the result as a springboard for the rest of the season.
