How Tottenham Hotspur could line up against Crystal Palace

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou will be without his first-choice centre-forward for Saturday's Premier League London derby against Crystal Palace.

The Lilywhites have enjoyed a two-week break from competitive action after going down 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 17, having seen their clash with Chelsea postponed due to the Blues' EFL Cup final commitments.

Pedro Porro (strain) and Destiny Udogie (knee) both missed that loss, and since then, Richarlison has picked up a fresh knee injury and will be absent for between two and three weeks.

Postecoglou is hopeful that Udogie's problem will heal in time for the Italian to be involved on Saturday, but the Australian conceded that Porro still needs another week to return to full fitness.

Tottenham have also lost the unfortunate Ryan Sessegnon to a second serious hamstring injury in the last 12 months, while Manor Solomon (knee) and Fraser Forster (foot) are also out of contention.

With Udogie expected to return to the fold, Ben Davies is braced to drop back down to the bench, but Emerson Royal ought to earn another increasingly rare Premier League start as Porro continues his recovery.

Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero will line up unchallenged in front of Guglielmo Vicario, though, and the same can be said for Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr at the base of the midfield.

Dejan Kulusevski's place in attack is certainly safe after the Swede extended Spurs' scoring streak in the Premier League to 37 matches two weeks ago, and Timo Werner could get the nod over Brennan Johnson to join the Swede, Son Heung-min and James Maddison in the final third.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup: Vicario; Royal, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Maddison, Werner; Son