Premier League: No Mercy for the Grounded Eagles

Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur

The Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham is the entertainment on offer in South London, but it will be anything but a relaxing afternoon for Palace fans.

Oliver Glasner’s team is on a losing streak of three league games and is languishing in the relegation zone, with just three points from eight games, so to face seventh-placed Tottenham is not the ideal opportunity to put things right.  

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs are one of a group of teams chasing a Champions League place, and they come into the game having dismantled West Ham United last week.

And the pre-match Premier League 2024 betting odds suggest the North Londoners are about to bring their southern neighbours a whole world of pain.   

 

Talking Points

Is time running out for Glasner?

Premier League football is all about results, and three draws to show from eight games is not great business on or off the field. And, while it is too early to consider making a change in the dugout, Palace have previous form in this area, sacking former head coach Frank de Boer in 2017, after just five games and 77 days in charge.

Glasner has had the backing of the board, for what it’s worth. But as one of only clubs without a win, the heat is rising, and the Eagles desperately need a victory.

Before the next international break in November, Palace have this match against Spurs followed by a humdinger of a clash away to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers and then a home game against a dangerous Fulham side. If Palace are still winless at that point, then the mood in the boardroom will have significantly darkened.          

Losses to Everton, Liverpool, and Nottingham Forest have all had a common theme, as the Eagles have defended pretty well but have shown no killer instinct in front of goal.

Palace’s only goal in the last four league games came in the 2-1 loss to the Toffees, a strike from centre-back Marc Guehi which gave Palace a first-half lead before they fell to a Dwight McNeil double in the second half.  

Palace fans won’t expect the Premier League 2024 highlights to be an easy watch, as they just want their team to show some fight and a cutting edge in the final third.

They had 20 shots in the 1-0 defeat to Forest last Monday, and I doubt they will get that many opportunities against Tottenham.  

 

Postecoglou has some handy options  

After imploding in their last game before the international break, a 3-2 loss to Brighton, Tottenham had it all their own way in their all London clash with West Ham United last week and made it three wins from four in the league, scoring 12 goals along the way.

After they threw away a two-goal lead against the Seagulls, Spurs showed they too can launch a comeback after Mohammed Kudus had given the Hammers an early lead. Dejan Kulusevski opened the floodgates before halftime, and three goals in eight second half minutes blew the Hammers away.

Postecoglou has been boosted by the return of captain and talisman Heung-Min Son, who was also on target against West Ham, and he also exercised the impressive options he has in his squad, bringing on Senegalese midfielder Pape Sarr in place of the highly-rated James Maddison straight after halftime.

Kulusevski said the decision was pivotal in Spurs’ win, saying: “It was good to get Pape in, he changed the game for us.” And it was clear the Hammers struggled to cope with the 22-year-old’s physical strength and powerful running. 

With Timo Werner, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Richarlison also on the bench against West Ham, Postecoglou has plenty of strength and firepower in his armoury, which may be too much for the Eagles I suspect.        

 

History

With 19 wins to six in all competitions over the past three decades, Spurs have bossed this relationship, doing the double last season with a 3-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park as Heung-Min Son fired the winner.    

Spurs come into the game in impressive form and have five wins from six, punctuated by that outlying defeat to Brighton.

Meanwhile, over that time, Palace have just one win, a Carabao Cup victory over Championship strugglers QPR, one draw, and four defeats.

 

Betting Tip

Spurs have a Europa League date with AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night, and Postecoglou will use his squad to the full. I don’t see much value in a bet on Crystal Palace to beat them at SBOTOP odds of 3.52, while the draw is at 3.45. The Eagles desperately need a result, but Tottenham have the better players. And with momentum clearly in the visitors’ favour, I can only see an away win.

   

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