A season of ups and downs continues to go…up and down, as Tottenham Hotspur has won just two of its past five league matches and has rarely looked convincingly better than the opponent. There have been constant personnel issues, including in the most recent loss to Wolves, but even at full-strength it is not always smooth sailing.
Spurs are in a neck-and-neck fight for fourth place with Villa, and while that should not require winning out, they will need to string together some victories ahead of a brutal April. That quest resumes on Saturday, with a visit from Crystal Palace who sits — any guesses? — in the middle of the table!
When these clubs met at Selhurst Park back in October, Tottenham won on an own goal and great team effort finished off by Heung-min Son to temporarily go five points clear at the top. That was followed by the Chelsea match and…a lot of other frustrating things, but perhaps the reverse fixture can poetically bring the start of another flourishing time.
Tottenham Hotspur (5th, 47pts) vs. Crystal Palace (t-12th, 28pts)
Date: Saturday, March 2
Time: 10:00 am ET, 3:00 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: Peacock Premium (USA)
Oliver Glasner stepped in and took three points from his first match in charge, albeit against (a 10-man) Burnley. Recent losses by the club to Chelsea (twice), Brighton, and Arsenal show that Palace has struggled against top opponents, though. Spurs should certainly fall into that classification, but very little has come easily.
One factor that should help the home side is the absence of Marc Guehi, which is definitely a loss for a defense that is top seven in xGA this season. Additionally, Glasner wants to play more forward and pressing, which could yield goals on both ends of the pitch. While it is still early days in his tenure, Tottenham could be at risk as collateral damage of a new manager bump.
Lilywhite Spotlight: Attack from the back
The lack of both Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro was painfully obvious in the loss against Wolves, as Spurs had no answers in the final third, especially from the fullback positions. The burden falls on players like James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and the rest of the attackers as well, but it was clear that slotting in two replacement level players was a big reason for the poor performance.
Udogie seems to be on the right track, while Porro is less certain, but if even one of Ben Davies or Emerson Royal is called into the lineup again, Spurs need to have a better plan in place. Maybe the problems will be less felt against a Palace side that looks to push up more as opposed to parking the bus, but regardless, this system is not going to work if any piece is unable to do its job.