Preview: Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur - prediction, team news, lineups

Two out-of-sorts London rivals aiming to avoid three straight Premier League defeats collide at Selhurst Park on Sunday, when Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head.

The Eagles are reeling from an EFL Cup penalty-shootout loss to Arsenal, while the Lilywhites and their nine men were edged out 2-1 by Liverpool in their most recent outing.

Match preview

Oliver Glasner's Eagles experienced the highest of knockout highs last season, hoisting the famous FA Cup trophy aloft in the Wembley sunshine, but they were recently denied a swift return to the home of English football in gut-wrenching fashion.

A fatigued and absentee-hit Palace crop earned their stars by holding Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in normal time on Tuesday night, but own-goal scorer Maxence Lacroix capped off a disastrous evening by missing the decisive penalty in the Emirates shootout.

However, with one avenue to silverware closed off, Palace can focus more of their resources on arresting their Premier League slump, having dropped out of the European places in the top-flight rankings owing to back-to-back defeats to Manchester City and Leeds United.

Glasner's men scored just one goal and conceded seven during those grim 180 minutes of football, and the hosts' winless run in all competitions now stands at four matches, during which time their defence has been breached on a worrying 10 occasions.

The FA Cup holders tend to thrive when New Year's Eve comes into view, though, as they won their final league game in all of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 - never before have they won their last match of a calendar year in five successive years.

Not since 2018 have visitors Spurs been slain in their last game before January 1, but the Lilywhites faithful may travel across the capital in hope rather than expectation following recent catastrophic events.

Liverpool scored the same amount of goals as Thomas Frank's men received red cards last weekend, when the champions condemned the Lilywhites to a fourth loss from six top-flight games, triggering heightened speculation over the manager's future.

A portion of fans are already becoming disillusioned with the Dane - who has just lost a key member of his coaching team - but he retains the backing of the hierarchy for the time being as he seeks to steer 14th-placed Spurs back into European contention.

That will be easier said than done for a Tottenham side who have lost four and drawn one of their last five away matches, though, and the Lilywhites have also conceded a staggering 18 goals during that sequence - an average of one every 25 minutes or so.

The Europa League holders also suffered back-to-back losses to Palace in the 2024-25 season - failing to find the back of the net once - and the visitors are now at risk of successive league defeats at Selhurst Park for the first time ever.

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Crystal Palace form (all competitions):

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Team News

Palace's fitness situation had seemingly taken another turn for the worse when Chris Richards sustained a freak foot injury against Arsenal, but the stitched-up American may still be in with a chance of making an appearance this weekend.

The same goes for Eddie Nketiah, who suffered a knock against his old club, but Ismaila Sarr (AFCON), Daniel Munoz (knee), Daichi Kamada (hamstring), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Chadi Riad (knee) and Caleb Kporha (back) are definitely missing.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has also been managing a knee injury for a while, but the Frenchman nevertheless played the full 90 in midweek and should reprise his role against Spurs, whom he scored the only goal against in this fixture last term.

Speaking of Tottenham, Xavi Simons begins his three-game ban for serious foul play against Liverpool, while Cristian Romero is suspended for one game for now but may receive additional punishment owing to a recent FA charge.

Kevin Danso ought to be a straight swap for Romero in the backline, while Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson will all battle to step in for Simons, but the former should get the nod after scoring Tottenham's consolation off the bench last weekend.

There has been no change to the visitors' injury situation, meaning that Kota Takai (thigh), Dominic Solanke (ankle), James Maddison (ACL), Dejan Kulusevski (knee) and Destiny Udogie (thigh) are all absent, in addition to Africa Cup of Nations duo Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma.

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:

Henderson; Canvot, Lacroix, Guehi; Clyne, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Pino, Devenny; Mateta

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Spence; Gray, Bentancur; Kudus, Bergvall, Kolo Muani; Richarlison

We say: Crystal Palace 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Both Palace and Spurs arguably did themselves proud in their recent losses; the Eagles defied their jellied legs and absentees to give Arsenal a brilliant run for their money, and even a nine-man Tottenham handed Liverpool a few scares last time out.

Frank's side may have lost the influential Romero and Simons, but Palace's backline has looked increasingly vulnerable in recent weeks, so a high-scoring derby stalemate is not beyond the realm of possibility.

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