February 16 2016

FA Cup

Crystal Palace may be struggling in the Premier League but the FA Cup final and a trip to Wembley remains a real possibility this season.

The Eagles booked their place in the fifth round of the competition with a hard fought 2-1 win away at Southampton and Alan Pardew’s men must now go to Tottenham Hotspur and repeat the feat if they are to keep their dream alive.

In recent weeks, the goals may have dried up but Palace remain fairly solid defensively – which is essential for a cup run. Pardew is one of the Premier League’s top managers at adapting to situations and the Eagles will be difficult to beat.

If Tottenham are going to get the win, they will have to earn it. Meanwhile, Palace will sit and wait for the opportunity to land a devastating blow and snatch yet another win away from home.

Whilst most sides would prefer a home draw, an away clash suits Palace as they will now be able to set up to try and exploit Spurs on the counter-attack. The Eagles are devastating on the break and the pace of Wilfried Zaha, Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie will strike fear into most opposing defences.

At the time of writing, Coral are offering 9/2 on Palace to get the win at White Hart Lane and many punters will fancy the Eagles to earn a shock win.

In their long-standing 110 year history, Palace have NEVER won the FA Cup – which may just give that added incentive to go all the way this year. In 1990, they were cruelly beaten in the final of the competition by Manchester United but Pardew may lean on their performance to inspire the current crop of players.

The Eagles held United 3-3 in the final but lost 1-0 to a Lee Martin goal in the replay. Now, it would be foolish to claim that the Eagles can emulate this performance just like that.

On current form, Palace need to improve considerably if they are to beat the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea to the crown. In fact, Alan Pardew has come under intense scrutiny and some are suggesting that he might be sacked if their league form doesn’t improve.

Are the rumours true? Only time will tell, but Palace will be desperate for a good cup run to ease the pressure on their manager.

With a bit of luck, Palace may well reach the final of the competition. However, they have to get past Spurs first and that is no easy feat. Tottenham are in fine form this season, but Palace fans will hope that their Premier League commitments may force Mauricio Pochettino to deploy a weakened side.

Either way, Palace have the players to cause an upset and potentially win the competition for the first time in their history.