Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur FC, Premier League 2022-2023, Today Match Prediction

Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur FC Match Prediction & Analysis

Antonio Conte is in danger of allowing his good work to come undone at Tottenham, with his team slipping out of the top four and looking in need of a reboot.

Their defeat to Aston Villa, at home no less, will have been particularly difficult for their fans to witness, and the club faces a tough fixture list to start 2023.

While the overall feeling remains that Conte is the man to bring glory back to Spurs, that sentiment won’t last forever if results continue in recent fashion.

Crystal Palace recovered from losing their last home game by winning their most recent one, seeing off Bournemouth 2-0. Prior to that, they put in a dismal performance when losing 3-0 to Fulham.

They are now on the verge of breaking into the top half, as they have been at various points before in recent seasons. Can they finally push on under Patrick Vieira here?

TEAMS PREVIEW

Crystal Palace Preview

Reasons to be cheerful:

     Beat Spurs 3-0 at home last season

     Will be determined to win again at home after poor performance last time out

Reasons to be fearful:

     Won just two of their last 15 games played in January

     Will face a Tottenham desperate for points

Inconsistency has prevented Crystal Palace from pushing into the top half of the Premier League for many seasons now.

Patrick Vieira has received praise for his work so far at Palace, including making them harder beat and playing a more attractive game with younger players.

Winning games consistently isn’t yet one of them and you struggle to see how they’ll challenge those above them without putting together a good run of form.

It was very unlike them to lose 3-0 at home the other week, a result not seen for some time.

They will hope to rectify that with a stirring performance here, especially considering how they thrashed Spurs 3-0 at Selhurst Park last season.

Star Man – Michael Olise

Olise has been Palace’s creative mastermind of late, creating two assists in Palace’s win over Bournemouth recently. If he can feed Zaha, Eze and others here, Spurs could be in danger.

Tottenham Hotspur FC Preview

Reasons to be cheerful

     Kane has an exceptional record against Palace

     Kulusevski has a chance of being passed fit

Reasons to be fearful

     Have conceded the first goal in seven consecutive league games

     Richarlison, Bentancur, Lucas and Bissouma miss out

Tottenham are in danger of undoing the good progress they have made under Antonio Conte since the Italian’s appointment towards the end of 2021.

During that period, he has been backed by the Tottenham board, and qualified for the Champions League last season. They started this season brightly, but that form appears to have fallen away.

There have always been grumblings about his style of play, but as long as positive results were coming in all was fine. Now, with just two wins from their last seven in the league, they are slipping in the table.

You would back Conte to turn things around at Spurs, but you feel that he may need one or two more signings in the January window to revitalise their push for the top four.

Here, BIssouma is unavailable after picking up a suspension, with key players Richarlison and Bentancur remain injured. Dejan Kulusevski is touch-and-go.

Star Man – Harry Kane

Kane has five goals and three assists in his last six league games against Palace and will relish playing them again. He usually saves his best performances for when his team needs him most.