Tottenham Hotspur v Palace

White Hart Lane, Saturday 3.00pm

James McArthur: Available to play at White Hart Lane

Story so far

Palace head to White Hart Lane aiming to bounce back from a tepid first-day defeat against West Bromwich Albion.

They were toothless in front of goal in the 1-0 loss with main striker Connor Wickham unable to get any shots away.

Spurs, meanwhile, pinched a point away at Everton in their opener (1-1), so expect another low-scoring affair here.

Eagles winger Andros Townsend was frozen out at Tottenham and returns to his former stomping ground with something to prove. He's been impressive over pre-season, so lay on him to score the first goal at 16/1 with Paddy Power or any time at 7/1, also with Paddy Power.

Palace nicked an FA Cup win last time out and you can back them to triumph again at a decent 7/1 with betVictor.

Alan Pardew's men have kept one clean sheet in their last six top-flight games with Tottenham and have gleaned just two league victories over 2016.

Therefore, Spurs are likely to be too strong and will triumph without conceding. Go for 1-0 at 6/1 with Paddy Power.

Team news

Liverpool forward Christian Benteke is undergoing a medical at Palace and is yet to finalise personal terms after a transfer was agreed with the Reds.

Midfield trio Yohan Cabaye, Jordon Mutch and James McArthur, plus new defender James Tomkins are fit and go straight into the squad. Fraizer Campbell (hamstring), Sullay Kaikai (knock) and Bakary Sako (thigh) won't play.

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is sidelined with a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Michel Vorm.

Spurs forward Son Heung-min will have a fitness check-up after returning from the Olympic Games following South Korea's loss to Honduras. Fellow frontman Moussa Dembele is still suspended.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"It's important when you lose iconic players to try to replace them with iconic players. We've lost two this week, Mile Jedinak and Yannick Bolasie. Both were massive figures at this club and we will need to replace them with big figures.

"That's something that didn't always happen at Newcastle, unfortunately, so I'm pleased the board have been brave with this move [for Christian Benteke].

"We need to get him back to doing what he does best. His style of play, the way he feeds off crosses... He'll enjoy that with the wide players we have. But he's not our player yet."

Mauricio Pochettino

"You cannot play the Euros and start [the Premier League] on 13 August. How can you give rest to the players after the whole season?

"If you give rest in training and say, 'I don't want to use this player that was involved in the Euros' and you have no positive results - the media, the supporters, the board and the president kill me.

"You are in competition for 11 and a half months and the players, because you pay them good salaries, don't deserve the holidays? Come on. And the families? The sons? The kids? They are not machines."

Tottenham Hotspur - league stats

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
21/02/2016	FA Cup	Tottenham Hotspur	0 - 1	Crystal Palace
23/01/2016	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 3	Tottenham Hotspur
20/09/2015	League	Tottenham Hotspur	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
10/01/2015	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 1	Tottenham Hotspur
06/12/2014	League	Tottenham Hotspur	0 - 0	Crystal Palace

All time results

Last meeting

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Palace

Sunday February 21 2016

Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm, Dier, Wimmer, Rose, Walker, Son (Chadli, 67), Alli (Mason, 80), Bentaleb, Onomah, Dembele (Eriksen, 45), Kane

Subs not used: Trippier, Winks, Alderweireld, McGee

Bookings: Rose

Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Delaney, Dann, Kelly, Ledley, Mutch, Zaha, Cabaye (Jedinak, 81), Adebayor (Bolasie, 76), Wickham

Subs not used: Lee, McCarthy, Gayle, Mariappa, Campbell

Goals: Kelly (45)

Bookings: Cabaye, Bolasie

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