Crystal Palace – Tottenham

The guests are in poor form and won't be able to contend for the win.

Crystal Palace last earned promotion to the top division in 2013, when they won the Championship playoffs. Since then the Glaziers changed six managers in their pursuit of raising their level to the high positions of the Premier League. During this period the London club consistently finished from tenth to fifteenth in the table. The status of Crystal Palace as a team in the lower half of the table could not be corrected by Pulis, Hodgson, Allardyce and other experienced managers. Oliver Glasner came to the team in February 2024, and in less than a year and a half it is the first time in its history that it competes as the winner of the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield. Moreover, the Austrian coach has at his disposal a squad whose combined value amounts to half a billion euros. All this forces the coaching staff of the Glaziers to tackle the most difficult task of maintaining the elevated level of play. In Tottenham there was a new coach in the off-season. Thomas Frank began working in London in a very comfortable period — right after Spurs finished seventeenth in the league. After the worst season in decades, any result for the team in the Premier League will look good. The bookmakers have made the hosts favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.28 for their victory. Crystal Palace, besides the need to maintain the aforementioned level of play, faced another unusual task this season. The Glaziers compete in the Conference League, which even with a busy schedule of matches is an additional distraction. It should be noted that Oliver Glasner is handling the tasks well, but the team made some slip-ups in December. Although a four-match winless streak can easily be attributed to the strength of half of the opponents during this period — Arsenal and Manchester City — the 1-4 defeat to Leeds demands special attention from the coaching staff. Since the beginning of November Tottenham have taken part in eight rounds of the Premier League, five of which ended in defeats, with a victory only in the home match against Brentford. The visitors are currently 14th in the table, which well characterizes their form. It is unlikely that the Spurs will beat more disciplined and cohesive opponents.