Tottenham hope to overcome injury woes against dangerous Palace side

Tottenham find themselves in a mini injury crisis as Crystal Palace travel to the new White Hart Lane, with all of Spurs’ summer signings suffering from knocks.

Mauricio Pochettino will be thankful Harry Kane got through both England games without a scrape, and even managed to get in the goals ahead of a big game against Roy Hodgson and his Crystal Palace side. A disappointing defeat to Newcastle earlier in the season means Spurs are already seven points off the pace of the leaders in Liverpool.

Palace hit the lofty heights of fourth place with seven points from their opening four games, most notably a fantastic 2-1 win over Manchester United, a late Patrick Van Aanholt winner grabbing all three points. Early predictions of a relegation battle for the Eagles already looking a little premature.

Team news

Tottenham are without all of their summer signings; Ryan Sessegnon, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso all suffering with knocks and are out of action for a couple of weeks at least. Whilst Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez and Kyle Walker-Peters also miss out.

Hodgson is hoping to have a trio of returning players, Scott Dann, James Tomkins and James McArthur all hope to be back in action. There is no set return date for Martin Kelly or Connor Wickham, though.

Mauricio Pochettino

Pochettino was questioned about the happiness of Christian Eriksen, the Dane linked with a move away in the summer;

“He’s happy. He was always happy. He never said he wasn’t happy here.

“Everyone of course has aims, goals, challenges. I told you before the Arsenal game he was in his right mind and that’s why I played him.

“Always he was an important player for us. In our sixth season, we’ve always appreciated him a lot. His qualities are there and important for the team.

“He’s happy and if we believe he deserves to play then he’s going to play. It’s not because he has less than one year on his contract we’re going to take a different decision. All decisions are based on performance.”

Roy Hodgson

Hodgson is expecting a tough game against Spurs, and also heaped praise on Jordan Ayew for his recent form;

“It is never a good time (to play them) – they are one of the best teams in the country,” the 72-year-old said.

“They will have a strong team, we are confident with the start we have had, and it is a question of what happens on the day. I am not sure it is ever a good time to play anyone.”

“Jordan has done well all the time he has been here. His contribution last season was an important one, he has continued that and added two very important goals,”

Head-to-head

Crystal Palace have a dismal record against Tottenham, in the history of the clubs, Spurs have come out on top 30 times compared to the 12 times Palace walked away victorious whilst 13 have ended in stalemates.

Tottenham managed the double over Palace last season, winning 2-0 at home and 1-0 at Selhurst Park. Palace did exact some revenge though, knocking Tottenham out of the FA Cup, a 2-0 victory on home turf.