FA Cup Fourth round: What to expect from Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur
On Sunday, Tottenham will meet Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the FA Cup. This will be a hard game for Palace, but if they manage to play well against Spurs like they have this season against teams like Manchester city or Liverpool, they may get a shock win. Tottenham ,who got beaten by rivals Chelsea last night in the Carabao cup, may not be their best for this game because of injuries weakening the squad. Here is some reasons why Palace may win this game or Tottenham will avoid another shock loss.
Crystal Palace the giant killers
Crystal Palace may be in the Premier League but they are not as good as teams such as Tottenham, Manchester City or Chelsea and are preferred as a team that is 'easy'. However, this can be an understatement as they can produce some good football against the big clubs. Recently they played top of the league Liverpool. Crystal Palace managed to get a lead but this was not enough as ten men Liverpool managed to win 3-2. However, Crystal Palace showed good defensive class a played better than some of the bigger clubs who face Liverpool this season. if they manage to play like that against Tottenham, they may achieve a win on Sunday. They also managed to beat last season champions Manchester city in December, 3-2.
Injury problems
Tottenham have had a few injury blows recently with stars such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Ben Davies being sidelined. This means that Tottenham may have to play other players they wouldn't such as Fernando Llorente who hasn't performed at his best recently. This means that Spurs will not be as strong as they normally would be giving Crystal Palace an advantage. Also, Son Heung-min has gone off this month to play in the Asian cup which is a massive blow for Spurs. However, Palace don't have their first and second choice goalkeepers due to injuries so either 39-year-old Julian Speroni will play or Lucas Perri.
Previous encounters
The last time Crystal Palace managed to beat Spurs was three years ago in the FA cup. Since then Spurs has gone on to beat Crystal Palace five times in a row. However, the last encounter between the London rivals in November, Crystal Palace didn't perform too bad as they had more chances than Spurs with three more shots on target. Yet, they did not manage to get the ball in the back of the net. With the injury advantages that Palace may have on Sunday, they may perform another FA cup shock for Spurs.
Home advantage or home misery
Crystal Palace may have a home advantage, but Spurs have managed to win fifteen of their last away games in all competitions this season. Palace have only achieved three home wins in all competitions this season so Tottenham will be hoping to keep it this way on Sunday. If Palace manage to win, this will be their tenth win this term.
Predictions
With spurs not having their best players and potentially to not play their fit, better player, Crystal Palace will have an advantage. However, Palace have lost against Spurs in the last five encounters so that is a clear advantage for Tottenham. If Spurs can play better than they did against Chelsea, then they should be able to win this match.