Palace v Tottenham Hotspur

Selhurst Park, Saturday 5.30pm

Alan Pardew

Story so far

Crystal Palace will be looking to impress the Selhurst Park faithful this weekend by delivering them three points to give them some New Year cheer. Having slipped into the relegation zone, Palace will be looking for the three points that could help them climb four places into fourteenth in the league.

The Eagles will be hoping that their keeper Julian Speroni will be on top form to help them keep their third consecutive clean sheet. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index can reveal that Speroni has averaged 1.53 saves per goal conceded this season. He will look to further improve on that ratio to help make it over 270 minutes since he last conceded in the Premier League.

At the back, Joel Ward will be instrumental at both ends of the pitch for Crystal Palace. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index can reveal that he has covered more ground than anybody else in the Palace squad, completing 205.29km already this season. He has also won 85% of his 60 tackles this season, made 83 clearances and 34 interceptions. It is these statistics that mean he is the only member of the squad to play every minute of football this season.

Up top, Frazier Campbell will prove a threat to the Spurs defence, as demonstrated by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He has scored three times this season, converting 37.5% of his shots on target. If he continues to hit the target, he will certainly be one to watch out for and is 14/5 to score anytime with 888sport.com.

This weekend’s visitors come in the form of Tottenham Hotspur, who are making the journey across the river from North London. Spurs will come into this game full of confidence having remained unbeaten in their last six Premier League outings, picking up 14 points from a possible 18. They will expect to make it five wins from seven by continuing their strong form.

Key to this will be their keeper, and also the French international shot stopper, Hugo Lloris. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, he has made 65 saves already with an average of 2.4 saves made per goal conceded. If he continues in the same vein, Tottenham will have every chance of extending their unbeaten run to seven games.

The heartbeat of the Spurs side this season has been Christian Eriksen, as illustrated by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. The Danish international midfielder has covered the third most ground of any Premier League player this season, with 222.77km already to his name this season. Combine the fact that he has two assists and seven goals to his name, and you realise what a threat Eriksen is going to pose.

Up top, Harry Kane is in phenomenal form at present and has taken his goal tally to the season to seven already. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows us that he has hit the target 16 times this season, converting just under attempts. He is 32/25 to score anytime with 888sport.com.

Team news

Palace duo Yannick Bolasie and Mile Jedinak are both missing as they are away on international duty. Bolasie is with DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations while midfielder Jedinak is representing Australia at the Asia Cup.

Eagles forward Marouane Chamakh could make a comeback after sitting out the last four league matches with a hamstring injury and midfielder James McArthur is also expected to be fit.

Tottenham's Ryan Mason (ankle) and Erik Lamela (hamstring) are both out of the game. Club-record signing Lamela (calf) is also missing, while Emmanuel Adebayor is considered not match fit.

Palace (from): Speroni, Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Ward, McArthur, Fryers, Ledley, Puncheon, Zaha, Hangeland, Doyle, Campbell, Hennessey, Thomas, Bannan, Kelly, Gayle, Murray, Hunt, Chamakh, Guedioura.

Tottenham (from): Lloris, Vorm, Friedel, Walker, Naughton, Dier, Rose, Davies, Fazio, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Chiriches, Stambouli, Dembele, Paulinho, Capoue, Bentaleb, Eriksen, Chadli, Lennon, Townsend, Soldado, Kane.

Key facts and stats

Crystal Palace (57/20) V (5/2) Tottenham (29/25)

- Last season’s fixture ended 0-1

- Already played this season 0-0

- 4 of the last 5 head-to-heads went UNDER 2.5 goals

- Palace have not scored in their last 3 head-to-heads vs Spurs

- Last 5 head-to-heads have seen just 3 (or less) yellow cards

- Spurs have won 5 of their 9 away league games this season

- Palace have not won in their last 8 league games

- Palace have lost 1-3 three times in the league at home this season

- All of Palace’s home league games this season went UNDER 2.5 at HT

- 8 of Spurs’ 9 away league games went UNDER 2.5 goals at HT this season

- 4 of Palace’s home league games have been 0-1 at HT

- Spurs have won 4 of their 9 away league games 1-2 this season

- Both teams have scored in 78% of Spurs’ away league games this season

- Both teams have scored in 67% of Palace’s home league games this season

- 78% of Spurs’ away league games went OVER 2.5 goals this season

Tottenham Hotspur - league stats

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
06/12/2014	League	Tottenham Hotspur	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
11/01/2014	League	Tottenham Hotspur	2 - 0	Crystal Palace
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

All time results

Last meeting

Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Palace

Saturday December 06 2014

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Dier, Davies, Vertonghen, Fazio, Bentaleb, Mason (Paulinho, 66), Lamela (Chadli, 45), Kane, Eriksen, Soldado (Lennon, 83)

Subs not used: Kaboul, Stambouli, Vorm, Rose

Bookings: Eriksen

Palace: Speroni, Hangeland, Kelly, Dann, Ward, Zaha (Puncheon, 66), Ledley, Jedinak, Bolasie, McArthur, Chamakh

Subs not used: Campbell, Delaney, Thomas, Gayle, Hennessey, Bannan

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