England Premier League
Sunday 26th December 2021
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s been a good week and bad week for Tottenham’s Antonio Conte who has been praised for raising the level at the club since he has been manager. Tottenham remain unbeaten at home and in their last game they pushed Liverpool to a 2-2 draw. Tottenham mean business and getting Conte seems like a great move from the club. However they have also been effectively kicked out of Europe for this season as they had to forfeit their game with Ligue 1 side Rennes in the Conference League due to a Covid-19 outbreak and then realising it would have been pretty much impossible to have scheduled the game before the end of this month as per UEFA’s request. Rennes have been awarded a 3-0 win. For now there isn’t much noise about it in the Tottenham camp, it may come but at the end of the day the club can now concentrate on domestic football and trying to finish in a top four spot.
Tottenham are in seventh place and are six points adrift of 4th with their London rivals Arsenal in that position. However Tottenham have three games in hand over them so much could change. It’s been almost 2 months since Tottenham lost a game in the league and from their last 15 points on offer they have won 11 of them. Harry Kane finally scored at the weekend which would have been a huge relief to the player who is perhaps facing his worst season as a professional.
Crystal Palace are in 11th place and trail Tottenham by six points and have played two more games than them. But the Eagles are going to have different objectives to Tottenham this season and they are playing some good football under Patrick Vieira. In their last game they drew 2-2 against Southampton and are on a two game unbeaten run, this is obvious improvement given that they had lost three in a row before then. Away form is more shaky with just one victory so far and they have lost their last two games on the road and by the same score line of 1-0 to Manchester United and Leeds respectively.
Team News:
Tottenham: Bryan Gil may return after illness and will be assessed. Cristian Romero is out long term with his hamstring.
Crystal Palace: Nathan Ferguson has a lack of match fitness but could be assessed. James McArthur is still out with his hamstring.
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace Head to Head:
Last season Tottenham had great memories in this game winning it 4-1.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Crystal Palace beat Tottenham 3-0.
Crystal Palace have not won at Tottenham in a league match since 1997
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace Prediction:
We are going to back Tottenham to win this game just based on the quality of their play against Liverpool. Tottenham have been solid under Conte but that doesn’t mean he will always be able to pull off results away from home where it can get very tricky. However at home Conte has a clear plan to make Tottenham a very difficult team to beat. Conte knows he has the quality players in this game to win it.
It cannot be underestimated how important it was for Harry Kane to score a goal, it’s an old saying but strikers need goals to build confidence and after one they usually start flowing, so we will back Kane again to get on the score sheet.
Palace will have their chances but we are tipping that Tottenham will overpower them as they have their eye firmly focused on the top four now.
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace Betting Tips:
Tottenham to beat Crystal Palace at 1.66
Anytime goalscorer: Harry Kane at 1.72
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