Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace: Issues and Decisions That Will Shape EPL Game
Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace were reminded midweek how quickly a decent run of form can be ended.
There was an expectation Tottenham might lose away at Premier League leaders Chelsea—it had been 24 years since their last win at Stamford Bridge. Palace were hoping for better than a 1-0 home defeat to fellow bottom-half side Aston Villa, though. They had defeated Liverpool in their previous game at Selhurst Park and then held Swansea City to a draw away.
The two London clubs will be keen to engineer the start of another winning sequence at White Hart Lane on Saturday. Spurs to keep track with the league's pace-setters, the Eagles to keep away from the bottom. Read on for the key issues and decisions set to shape this Premier League clash.
Bouncebackability Battle
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It was former Crystal Palace boss Iain Dowie who unintentionally created the term "bouncebackability" a few years back. Both his former side and Tottenham will be keen to show such resilience following their aforementioned losses during the week.
As was also noted, beating Chelsea on Wednesday seemed a big ask for Spurs. History was against them and, more pertinently, Jose Mourinho's men are just a better team.
Nonetheless, Spurs began brightly and remained competitive well into the second half. Chelsea's class ultimately told as they ruthlessly capitalised on loose marking and a rare Hugo Lloris mistake to win 3-0.
But the way the Lilywhites attacked and looked to ensure the Blues did not have things all their own way was at least a notable improvement on March's capitulation at the Bridge.
Spurs' mixed home form this season shows the visit of 15th-placed Palace is not a game they can just turn up and expect to win. Though Chelsea might have put them in their place, they need to prove the recent wins over Hull City and Everton especially were no false dawn and that they can enjoy some sort of success in this current campaign.
".@nabilbentaleb42: "Now it’s about picking our heads up and working hard for the next game." - http://t.co/huTAjTi0vt pic.twitter.com/MXLYJYyrRJ
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 4, 2014"
The same sentiment expressed by Nabil Bentaleb (above) will have likely also been shared in the Crystal Palace changing room after their loss to Aston Villa. Like Spurs, they will be out to show their own good results prior to their midweek defeat were no flukes.
A positive performance in line with the way they attacked Swansea after going a goal down would give manager Neil Warnock something to work with moving forward. He will try to tell his team such an attitude might even see them nick something off their more loftily positioned capital neighbours.
Palace Need to Tighten Up in Defence
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Neil Warnock will rightly encourage a relatively positive approach for his side's trip north of the River Thames. What point is there in playing exciting footballers like Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha if they are not going to be allowed to try and win the game?
Still, the Palace boss would also be smart to have worked on tightening up his team's defensive work in between games. Failure to do so could see Spurs' expensively assembled attack have a field day in and among them.
At Swansea last week, the Eagles' initial discipline and shape quickly gave way. Gylfi Sigurdsson wreaked havoc popping up between the visitors' two banks of four. In the box, Wilfried Bony and Jonjo Shelvey were allowed too much room to breathe by centre-back pair Scott Dann and Brede Hangeland.
The situations often came about from the difficulty full-backs Joel Ward and Martin Kelly had dealing with Swansea's wing pair of Jefferson Montero and Wayne Routledge. Those in central positions naturally turned their attentions here, in part leading to the space the Swans were granted inside.
Palace's struggles were typified by Bony's goal.
Their midfield watched on as Neil Taylor advanced down the left and passed inside to an unmarked Sigurdsson. He quickly knocked it on to Bony, whose superb first touch allowed him to turn Hangeland and fire into the bottom corner.
The Norwegian defender was in trouble when the move got that far. He had to try and deal with the striker or Bony would have had even more time. But getting that tight left him prone to the illusionary flick that allowed the Dutchman to free himself.
There are no simple solutions against quality opponents. But the way in which they were then beaten by Christian Benteke on Tuesday—he tackled Dann out wide before driving at and using the back-pedaling Hangeland to guide the ball around—underlines the need for Palace to be more competitive defending their goal.
Preparing for the Holidays
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Except for bringing Erik Lamela in for Roberto Soldado, Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino started the same team that beat Everton against Chelsea (and Lamela had come on to help seal that win).
That Spurs did not looked too disheveled in their defending or aimless in their offensive work was testament to the Argentinian's recent consistency picking his side. His players competed with the table-toppers, even if they were ultimated outclassed.
Team news for the Crystal Palace game was not available at the time of writing. Bar a proper right-back in Kyle Naughton perhaps coming in for willing but not entirely comfortable deputy Vlad Chiriches, there is little reason to change the defence (and a case could certainly be made for sticking with the Romanian for now).
The make-up of the midfield is a little trickier to predict, both in terms of strategical tweaks for Palace and whether Pochettino will opt to make changes to ensure the team's engine room does not lose steam during the upcoming holiday season.
The latter could perhaps see Ryan Mason rested. The central midfielder has been largely excellent since breaking into the first team in September. A little sloppiness has crept into his game, though, something that might be remedied by a weekend off.
The increasingly confident Nabil Bentaleb deserves to keep his place, though. Bringing Christian Eriksen back inside and a little deeper to orchestrate things like he did in the Hull win could help counter any Palace attempts to sit back on Spurs.
Around them, there are cases to be made for employing the width of Aaron Lennon or the midfield bite of Benjamin Stambouli, the directness of Nacer Chadli or the skill of Erik Lamela. Those are decisions with repercussions for how Spurs set up for Palace and how Pochettino uses his resources over the busy Christmas period.
Who Will Lead from the Front?
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Both Pochettino and Warnock also have plenty to contemplate over who they start in attack.
For Tottenham, Roberto Soldado missed out against Chelsea despite scoring the winner versus Everton. Back at home and against a team the north Londoners will fancy their chances of winning against, the Spaniard could be back.
With the in-form Harry Kane unlikely to be dropped, it would mean reverting to something akin to a front two. Something which, as discussed on the previous page, would have implications elsewhere in the team.
Warnock is keen for Palace to improve on their final-third production from the Villa game. He told his club's official Twitter page:
"NW: "We just need to be a little bit more creative and clinical in front of goal and we would have got something from the game tonight."
— Crystal Palace FC (@CPFC) December 2, 2014"
The Eagles pinned Villa down from the off and also looked the more likely to score after going a goal down. Wingers Bolasie and Zaha's service lacked patience and quality, though, while the Palace forwards were unable to find their finishing touch in front of goal. However, until January at least, Warnock will have to stick with what he has got.
Both PremierInjuries.com and PhysioRoom.com report a late decision will be made over Dwight Gayle's availability. Before he went off on Tuesday, his movement caused Palace's opponents problems, as it did in the Liverpool win toward the end of November.
Even if Gayle is fit, Warnock could instead opt for the more individually confrontational style of Fraizer Campbell. The more aerially inclined focal point of Marouane Chamakh could also be asked to lead the line solo, with an extra midfielder drafted in behind him.
