Crystal Palace v Tottenham preview: Spurs go for eight wins on the spin
Wednesday 26 April 2017 18:59, UK
Tottenham continue their pursuit of Chelsea in the Premier League title race with a visit to Crystal Palace, live on Sky Sports on Wednesday night.
These two teams sit first and second in the Premier League form table, with Palace claiming the scalps of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in the past month.
A victory at Selhurst Park would see Spurs win for the eighth successive league game for only the third time in their history and put further pressure on league leaders Chelsea.
Meanwhile - after a sticky start under Sam Allardyce - Palace have won six of their last eight Premier League games - having won just five of their previous 26.
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Team news
Palace must do without defender James Tomkins, with the former West Ham United centre-back likely to miss the rest of the season with a leg injury.
Allardyce will decide at the last minute whether to rotate his squad following Sunday's 2-1 win at Liverpool.
As for the visitors, Ben Davies is likely to start at left-back for Spurs. Erik Lamela and Harry Winks are both ruled out with hip and ankle injuries.
Opta facts
Palace have lost each of their last three league games against Tottenham; they haven't lost four successive games since their first five encounters with Spurs in the top flight (Aug 1969 - Sept 1971).
After failing to win 11 successive top-flight London derbies (D2 L9), Palace have won their last two - they've never won three successive London derbies in the Premier League.
Tottenham haven't won an away top-flight London derby since their last visit to Selhurst Park in January 2016, failing to win each of the last four trips in London (D2 L2).
Harry Kane has scored 18 goals in 24 London derbies in the Premier League - the Spurs striker has the best goals per game ratio in history in such derbies (0.75 goals per game) of players to play in five or more
After failing to score in his first three Premier League appearances in 2016-17, Kane has scored 20 goals in 21 matches in the competition for Spurs and converted 29 per cent of his total shots.
Mauricio Pochettino has seen his Tottenham side win seven successive league games in a run starting two months before the date of this match (February 26th). This is his best-ever winning run as a manager in league competition.
During this seven-game winning streak for Spurs in the Premier League, Dele Alli has had a hand in eight goals (five goals, three assists).
After losing his first three home matches in charge, Allardyce is unbeaten in his last four at Selhurst Park (W3 D1), with the Eagles keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories.
Tottenham have won consecutive away Premier League games for the third time this season, but haven't managed to win three in a row since February 2016.
Christian Eriksen has provided 11 assists and scored a further four goals in his last 11 games for Tottenham in all competitions.
Merson's prediction
Tottenham are in a funny situation at the moment. They couldn't have played any better in the semi-final but let in four goals to lose 4-2 to Chelsea. I watched them play at Stamford Bridge as well and for nearly all of the first half they played some of the best football I've seen from a Spurs side - but went into the break at 1-1.
They went on to get beat 2-1 that day and they now must be sitting there thinking: "We're close but how closer actually are we?" If I get my prediction for Chelsea's game right then this really is a must-win game for Mauricio Pochettino's men.
Allardyce has done a brilliant job with Palace. I can't talk highly enough of the man. When he first got the job I didn't think they had the real Sam Allardyce, I thought he was still coming to terms with the England situation. He lost his mojo a bit but he got into it.
Palace got a superb result at Liverpool which means they are safe and they will go and play with confidence and no fear. Spurs have everything to lose but I have to back Tottenham because I think they are a very good team. They have been playing so well and that will continue at Selhurst Park.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (11/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Palace are 4/1 with Sky Bet to claim another major scalp, with Tottenham 8/13, while the draw is priced at 3/1. Pochettino's men headed into the midweek action with a 5/1 chance of catching Chelsea and securing the title, while they're just 1/12 in betting without the Blues. Kane heads the first goalscorer market at 100/30 and is 5/6 to net anytime, while Christian Benteke is 10/1 for another brace.
