Tottenham Hotspur v Palace

White Hart Lane, Saturday 3.00pm

Story so far

Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at fantasy.premierleague.com or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14

Tottenham host Crystal Palace in a clash of two of the Premier League’s newest managers, and both Tim Sherwood and Tony Pulis will be looking to build on their impressive starts. One of the first moves that Tim Sherwood made at the start of his tenure was to bring Emmanuel Adebayor back in from the wilderness, and his decision has certainly been vindicated with the Togolese striker putting in a number of top quality performances.

He was impressive again against Manchester United as the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index demonstrates, as he made a total of 22 attacking contributions (based on shots on target, crosses, dribbles and passes in the opposition half), which was more than any other player in the squad. When looking at the Tottenham striker’s shooting statistics, Sherwood’s decision to bring Adebayor back in to the fold shouldn’t be considered too much of a surprise.

The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index demonstrates that Adebayor has managed to hit the target with 63% of his efforts, whereas Defoe’s accuracy is only 45% and Soldado’s 35%.

Christian Eriksen’s scored the goal that proved to be the winner against the Champions, and it was probably the most telling contribution of his Spurs career to date.

Critics have been quick to jump on the back of Eriksen since his move to North London, but the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index highlights that many of these criticisms may be unfounded.

His passing, in particular, has been impressive, as he has completed a pass in the opposition half every 2.9 minutes, however he also has incredible shooting statistics.

So far this season, he has hit the target with 80% of his shots. Eriksen is 8/1 with 888sport.com to score the first goal on Saturday.

The injury to Andros Townsend has certainly hit Spurs hard, with Tim Sherwood’s men missing his classic wing play.

So far this campaign, Townsend has completed 56 dribbles, the most in the Spurs squad, and swung in 12 crosses, also the most in the Spurs ranks.

Tony Pulis will be hoping that Crystal Palace’s progress isn’t hampered by their disappointing draw at home to Norwich.

Since Pulis took over at Selhurst Park, he has placed more emphasis on defensive organisation, and the performance of Joel Ward against Norwich encapsulated this change of philosophy.

The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that he was successful in every challenge that he attempted.

Jason Puncheon has been incredibly impressive since he made his loan switch to the Eagles, featuring in 17 of their 20 matches this term.

Always a threat on the wing, Puncheon’s ability to glide past defenders and swing in a cross has been evident this term, and his excellent offensive ability was on show against the Canaries as he made a total of 27 attacking contributions (based on passes in the opposition half, crosses, dribbles and shots on target).

This was the most in the Palace squad. Puncheon is 17/1 with 888sport.com to score the first goal at the weekend. Mile Jedinak has been an inspirational skipper for Palace this term, and has led from the front in their fight against relegation.

This is most evident in the fact that he is the only outfield player in the Eagles’ squad to have featured in every minute of the campaign so far.

The Australian has also made a staggering number of interceptions this campaign, with no other player in the league bettering Jedinak’s 70.

Barry Bannan has made a solid start to life at Selhurst Park, racking up a total of 13 appearances for the Eagles since his move in the Summer. His crossing has excelled in this time, as he has swung the ball in a total of 17 times – more than any other Palace player.

Team news

Palace team news

Pulis might look to bring Cameron Jerome back to the starting eleven after he missed out on the FA Cup victory against West Brom at the Hawthorns.

Stephen Dobbie may feature after being on the subs bench for the West Brom game. Pulis is taking the period of January to assess whether he could make his revised 25-man-squad, when the transfer window closes shut.

Jimmy Kebe won't be in the squad as he is currently tying up a loan-deal with Leeds.

Palace from: Speroni, Price, Ward, Gabbidon, Delaney, Mariappa, Moxey, Parr, Puncheon, Jedinak, Dikgacoi, Bannan, O'Keefe, Williams, Gayle, Chamakh, Jerome, Bolasie, Boateng.

Tottenham team news

Tottenham have 10 first team players either ruled out or doubtful for the game.

Roberto Soldado is returning to fitness from a calf injury, while England winger Andros Townsend could also feature after a hamstring problem.

Jan Vertonghen and Younes Kaboul aren't likely to feature after not having long enough to recover from knocks.

Kyle Naughton (hamstring), Erik Lamela, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lewis Holtby and Paulinho are all out too.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"I think Tottenham have got a fantastic group of players, a fantastic squad and Tim [Sherwood] has been given the job - I'm pleased that it's an English coach that gets one of the top jobs and I'm sure he'll make the most of it."

Christian Eriksen

"We'll probably have the ball more, but we just have to use the ball well against what could be a defensive team,"

"Every game is difficult but I believe we can maintain our good run of form in the league and pick up another win.

"We've played some good games in the Premier League over the last month and hopefully we can build on that.

"We're determined to get the three points on Saturday."

---

Tottenham Hotspur - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
6th	20	11	4	5	37

Full league table

---

Tottenham Hotspur - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	5	2	1	15	13

Full form table

---

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
18/08/2013	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 1	Tottenham Hotspur
22/01/2005	League	Crystal Palace	3 - 0	Tottenham Hotspur
28/12/2004	League	Tottenham Hotspur	1 - 1	Crystal Palace
03/01/2004	FA Cup	Tottenham Hotspur	3 - 0	Crystal Palace
28/03/1998	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 3	Tottenham Hotspur

All time results

---

Last meeting

Palace 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Sunday August 18 2013

Palace: Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Ward, Delaney, Wilbraham (Williams, 66), Dobbie (Phillips, 66), Garvan (Chamakh, 66), Dikgacoi, Jedinak, Gayle

Subs not used: Alexander, Marange, Campana, O'Keefe

Bookings: Jedinak

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dawson, Rose (Kaboul, 86), Vertonghen, Walker, Paulinho, Lennon, Dembele (Capoue, 57), Chadli, Sigurdsson, Soldado (Defoe, 83)

Subs not used: Carroll, Townsend, Friedel, Naughton

Goals: Soldado (50, pen)

Prediction league

0 members have predicted for this game so far.

Make your prediction on this game

Away travel info

Click here