Crystal Palace swap south for north London as they travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham in the FA Cup fifth round.
Alan Pardew’s side have had a terrible time in 2016; their FA Cup victories over Southampton and Stoke City being their only victories in nine games.
And taking on a Tottenham team coming off the back of a morale-boosting win against Manchester City won’t make things any easier.
Tottenham
Tottenham will have far fewer days to prepare for the visit of The Eagles, but contrary to popular belief, they’ve fared much better after Thursday Europa League matches than they have done in the past.
The 1-1 draw against Fiorentina may have halted Spurs’ seven-match winning run, but it still represents a good result in Florence ahead of next week’s return leg.
Tottenham gave rests to several first team stars, but still kept the likes of Heung-min Son and Dele Alli out on the pitch and the latter incurred the wrath of Mauricio Pochettino with his petulant antics.
It shows that despite his heroics so far this season, Alli still has a lot to learn and needs to show a calm head which has been a fault of his at times.
Sunday should see a near full-strength XI with Erik Lamela, Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele and Harry Kane all expecting to start.
Despite Ryan Mason captaining the side on his return from injury it’s likely he’ll be returned to the bench and Nacer Chadli, fresh from his penalty in Florence may well earn a start, given his exploits in Colchester in the fourth round with two goals and an assist.
Fighting on three fronts will take its toll on Tottenham’s squad, but the FA Cup is realistically within their grasp providing they balance rotation and talent carefully.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace’s troubles have been well-documented, with Alan Pardew’s side unable to pull themselves out of their current slump.
Their Premier League form has been deeply concerning; at one point touted as Europa League contenders, they now sit behind early relegation strugglers Chelsea in 13th.
However, they’ve enjoyed success in the FA Cup so far, with a well-fought victory at St. Mary’s followed by beating fellow strugglers Stoke.
With the signing of former Spurs ‘favourite’ Emmanuel Adebayor, how they would love to make it through to rub Spurs’ faces in it.
Adebayor however does represent a big upgrade on their current strikeforce, which prior to the Togolese’s arrival had just scored one goal – courtesy of a Connor Wickham penalty.
With an axe to grind, he’ll spearhead the Palace attack and will prove a big handful for Kevin Wimmer to contend with.
A win would desperately win disgruntled Palace fans back round under Pardew, but with one clean sheet in nine, that’s a tough task.
Last time out
23rd January 2016 – Crystal Palace 1-3 Tottenham
The Tottenham view: Mauricio Pochettino, manager
“We have a strong squad to try to fight for every competition, we need to use all of the squad.
“It is not important to talk about using the squad. It is important how we compete, we have big motivation.” (Goal)
The Crystal Palace view: Scott Dann, defender
“You’d like to think we’ll have a clearer week to prepare than them. Spurs have got a big squad, so they can change things around, but we’ll be going into the game hopeful we can get through to the next round.
“Anyone can beat anyone in the FA Cup – and we can beat anyone. Obviously, we’re not in a great run at the minute, but there’s no reason why we can’t go there and beat them.” (Croydon Advertiser)
Prediction
Spurs should be too strong for Palace, despite Adebayor relishing this match. If they can put three past Palace at Selhurst Park, they’ll be confident in a similar outcome this weekend.
Tottenham 2-0 Crystal Palace
