Tottenham will compete with Crystal Palace in the London derby at Selhurst Park, bidding to get back to winning ways in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.
The Lilywhites lost 2-0 to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at home on New Year’s Eve, which left them stranded on fifth in the Premier League standings. Antonio Conte’s side produced a lacklustre display against Villa, who deservedly returned to Midlands with all three points.
With Man United leapfrogging into the fourth spot and having the chance to open a five-point lead against Bournemouth on Tuesday, Conte is wary that his team must win at Crystal Palace to stay in the top-four mix.
Yves Bissouma picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the defeat to Aston Villa and is suspended, while Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Moura and Richarlison remain absent due to injury problems.
Dejan Kulusevski is a major doubt after a muscular issue saw him miss the game against Villa on New Year’s Eve.
Goalkeeper
Despite his howler against Aston Villa on New Year’s Day, Hugo Lloris should keep his place in goal for Spurs. An experienced head, the Frenchman should be raring to put in a strong display against Palace.
Defence
Eric Dier will be pushing for a start having been dropped to the bench against Villa, but Antonio Conte is likely to stick with the back three of Cristian Romero, Clement Lenglet and Ben Davies once again ahead of Lloris.
The defensive trio of Romero, Lenglet and Davies have to be switched on throughout the 90 minutes to contain Palace’s forwards and keep a clean sheet.
Midfield
As Rodrigo Bentancur is not expected to regain fitness and Yves Bissouma is suspended, Oliver Skipp becomes the natural option to start in midfield alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Skipp’s experience and know-how of the Premier League should get him the nod over Pape Matar Sarr.
With Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal failing to deliver consistent performances, Conte could finally turn to Djed Spence and hand the youngster his first league start. Spence could start at right wing-back, while Ryan Sessegnon replaces Ivan Perisic on the other flank.
Attack
Dejan Kulusevski is a big doubt ahead of the game, so the Spurs boss is likely to go with Bryan Gil for the second successive game. Gil should feature on the right, with Son Heung-min hoping to use his pace, flair and creativity to make a difference from the other flank.
Harry Kane was poor against Aston Villa and failed to make any sort of an impact. Yet, he is Spurs’ chief source of goals and is a guaranteed starter against the Eagles.
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