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Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace: Premier League tale of the tape

By Gary Pearson

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur warms up prior to the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 14: Eric Dier of Tottenham Hotspur warms up prior to the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth at Wembley Stadium on October 14, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Preparing to welcome the current bottom feeders, Spurs shift their attention back to the Premier League for a Sunday home match against Crystal Palace. 

In his pre-match press conference, Mauricio Pochettino said losing focus is the biggest threat to his team before Sunday’s match. Truer words have never been spoken.

Coming off the transcendent euphoria of toppling a European giant is no easy task, one whose degree of difficulty swells even more due to Spurs forthcoming opponents. Spurs’ upcoming test is more a psychological battle.

Good thing Tottenham have one of the most grounded, poised and humble managers steering the ship. Complacency isn’t a word – even now with his strong grasp on English – in Pochettino’s vocabulary.

Palace, with four points from 10 matches, are three points adrift of Bournemouth at the foot of the table. They didn’t score a goal in their first seven matches, a run of games which included some heavy defeats. While they’ve turned their fortunes around slightly, by shocking Chelsea and scoring a late equalizer against West Ham, in recent weeks, Palace are still woeful away from Selhurst Park.

Roy Hodgson’s men haven’t mustered a goal in seven straight away fixtures. Waiting for Palace to score on the road is like waiting for Russia’s lost gold to turn up. To compound matters, Palace lay claim to the league’s most porous defence and anemic attack. They’ve conceded 21 goals thus far, while only managing to score four.

Palace, a potential banana skin?

With all of those wretched stats in mind, Palace still have the quality to conjure an upset. Just ask Antonio Conte and his Blues, who were embarrassed in their 2-1 loss away to Palace a few weeks ago. After 641 minutes of scoreless football, Palace scored their first goal of the season in the first half of that match. A goal had to eventually come. I’m just exhilarated with whom it came against.

Palace are actually enjoying a decent run of form, taking four from a possible nine points. After beating Chelsea, they put up a strong fight in a 1-0 loss away to Newcastle before sharing the spoils with West Ham last week thanks to a last-minute equalizer.

Any success, though, has come from the friendly confines of Selhurst Park. Awaiting their first road point, Palace also struggle mightily when visiting Tottenham. They won just once at White Hart Lane, back in 1997.

Spurs aren’t totally immune from being on the wrong side of an upset. The Burnley draw earlier in the season tasted more like a defeat. Solar eclipses don’t happen twice in the same year and nor will that kind of result.

Next: Kieran Trippier playing like a man possessed

While Wembley is an entirely different venue, this match shouldn’t vex Tottenham. Pochettino’s side have won four on the bounce against their London rivals, conceding a single goal in the process.

Pochettino salivates at the thought of derbies, the Tottenham messiah winning more home points versus fellow London opponents than any other side since taking the helm, losing only one of 14 said matches.