Tottenham vs Crystal Palace tips and predictions: Refreshed Spurs to condemn Glasner to first defeat
- Thomas Ridley
- 1 March 2024
Tottenham return to action after a two week break when they face Oliver Glasner's Crystal Palace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon (1500 GMT).
A lot has happened since Spurs last played in the Premier League two weeks ago: Liverpool won the Carabao Cup, Everton have had their points deduction reduced and today's opponents Crystal Palace hired a new manager in the form of Oliver Glasner.
Glasner's tenure got off to the perfect start last weekend, when the Eagles swept aside a poor Burnley side 3-0.
However, the Austrian's second match in charge promises to be a much sterner test against Champions League chasing Spurs.
Since the defeat to Wolves two weeks ago, fourth placed Aston Villa have extended the gap to Spurs to five points and Ange Postecoglou will know that this is a vital game if his troops have any ambition of returning to the top tier of European football.
Spurs have had Palace's number in recent years, winning seven of their last 10 meetings including each of the last four.
Big Ange will need to start getting a tune out of Son Heung-Min once again as in-form Richarlison is injured, Son has not scored since his return from the Asia Cup, but has a good record against the visitors, with 10 goal involvements in 16 matches.
Despite several injuries this season Tottenham have continued to find a way to maintain their energetic style of play and subsequently have scored plenty of home goals, with them finding the back of the net at least once in every home league game this season, but they have kept just two clean sheets in those games so there's always a chance for opponents.
Palace scored three goals in a match for just the fourth time this season last time out, with Jordan Ayew scoring for a second consecutive Premier League match, something which he hasn't done since 2020.
However, away from Selhurst Park, they score on average just a goal per game in and concede almost two per game, so the Spurs forwards will be licking their lips at the thought of coming up against Palace who will be without Marc Guehi and potentially Joachim Andersen.
Despite the good start by Glasner, a fresh Spurs side should win comfortably against an out of form Eagles side.
Team news
Destiny Udogie is a doubt for Spurs, while Fraser Forster, Pedro Porro, Ryan Sessegnon and Manor Solomon are ruled out.
Crystal Palace will be without Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding, Michael Olise and Marc Guehi, while Will Hughes, Joachim Andersen and Eberechi Eze are all doubts.
Key stats
- Tottenham have won their last four against Palace
- Tottenham have scored at least two goals in nine of their 13 home league games this season
- Crystal Palace have only scored once in their last five at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Crystal Palace have not kept a clean sheet on their travels since a 2-0 win at Burnley in November
