Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace

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Sunday 7th March 7.15pm
Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium​

Back-to-back wins after our recent awful run is definitely a positive thing, but the second half was very poor.
Fulham have improved a lot and that's a factor, of course, yet it's something we can't afford to repeat.
Another pseudo-derby leads us into the real one and a general improvement is required for that one.
Our opponents are in very mixed form, though they'll be boosted by the return of their talisman Zaha.
Can Mourinho make it three wins in a row or will Hogdson continue to drag his side away from the drop?

Palace's last campaign was rather mediocre and unexciting, dropping off slightly from the previous one.
They ended it in appalling form after securing Premier League football fairly early on.
The summer saw one interesting signing in Eberechi Eze, but the rest was largely staying level.
Their see-sawing form hasn't been much of a surprise and a lot depends on the fitness of Wilfried Zaha.
His recent absence has seen the goals dry up, but they've been quite solid at the back.

The future is rather up in the air for the club right now and the run-in could be very important for them.
They have 17 players out of contract in the summer, as well as one loanee who is set to return.
Hodgson's is also expiring and he'll be 74 in August, so he may decide to hang up his metaphorical boots.
They're not going to go down, but I'm sure he'd like to go out on a high, if he is going to retire.
A good finish to the season could also help the club to attract a big name who can refill the squad well.

This fixture last season 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:

Our visit to Selhurst Park in December was another good start, poor end match.
Guaita had a MOTM performance to maintain parity, saving well from Ndombele and Kane early on.
It was his gaff that gifted us the lead though, as he was deceived by a Kane longshot, which he got a hand to.
That was the difference between the sides until a late Eze free-kick was dropped by Lloris and Schlupp scored.
Guaita saved two more after that, firstly from Kane and then from a superb Dier free-kick:

Lo Celso is our only absentee again, though Aurier could face a late test.
McArthur, Clyne, Mitchell, Ferguson, Sakho, McCarthy, Hennessey and Tomkins are out for the visitors.
Neither side has any suspensions.

Lineups for each side's last league game:

Spurs: Lloris; Doherty, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Davies; Hojbjerg, Ndombele; Bale, Alli, Son; Kane.
Subs: Hart, Dier, Tanganga, Reguilon, Winks, Sissoko, Lamela, Moura, Vinicius.
League form: LWLLWW.

Palace: Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Cahill, van Aanholt; Eze, Milivojevic, McCarthy, Townsend; Benteke, Ayew.
Subs: Butland, Kelly, Dann, Hannam, Riedewald, Schlupp, Wickham, Batshuayi, Mateta.
League form: WLLWDD.

Ref: Stuart Atwell. VAR: Darren England.

TV: Sky Sports.

How would you like to line up for this one and what would you change from the Fulham 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?

 

What I’d like to see will be different to what I expect to see.

I’d like:

Hugo
Aurier, Dave, Toby, Reguilon
Sissoko, Ndombele
Bale, Dele, Lucas
Vinicius

Hojbjerg, Son and Kane are almost guaranteed to start though despite all looking very leggy against Fulham (Kane in particular having his poorest game of the season in my opinion because of that), whilst it’ll likely be Bale and Dele who get rested with Lamela starting alongside Lucas and Son behind Kane.

 

Paul Stewart ,

 

So...we could be 11 points ahead of the goons after next week's NLD or 1 pojnt behind them depending on how the next two games go....think we all know what this'll mean for tomorrow's result

 

Having just watched our 18s demolish Chelsea at Cobham, pressure’s now on the first team to match that performance tomorrow against Palace.

For anyone that missed the 18s, you can still watch the full 90 if you want on the link I posted in the academy thread. Trust me, if you want to watch some brilliant football and some excellent goals, you won’t be disappointed.

 

In insomnia mode last night I thought this was "Paul Stewart"
territory once PNP had put the article up, but I thought instead
better to be a "UN observer" in the dogfight for the Paul Stewart cup.

 

The reverse fixture was the first game where we thought sitting on a 1-0 lead for 60+ was a good idea, even though we plummeted down the table pretty damn quick due to this not working

Would be nice if we had some symmetry that saw us play to our strengths and, as a result, go above Saltypool and West Scam...

 

With a win we can go 7 above Arsenal and get to within 2 points of the top 4.

Do I even need to say what will happen?

 

Lucas scores in the 23rd minute, so we sit back for the rest of the game and try to act surprised?

 

I was waiting for this on Friday night and he didn’t post it until after my bedtime.......

 

[

I was sorely tempted to claim it, but it would not be in the spirit of the "eternal struggle" ,

 

We are not winning this one 4-0, are we.

< BTEC grade C in rcl-ing >

 

City look totally confused that United have turned up for this...oops wrong thread

 

Winks and Dier starting with a back 5 it is then.

 

Oh dear...

 

Kane or son not starting.
Bale or Dele not in the squad.
Joe Hart in goal

 

I WAS ****ING JOKING ABOUT WINKS!!!

 

I was expecting it to be more controversial, after that post.
Ndombele looked ****ed after the break against Fulham. Wasn't the only one, though.