Tottenham host Crystal Palace at the White Hart Lane in the second game-week of the Premier League after having drawn their first away fixture to Everton at Goodison Park. The Lilywhites will be looking to gain their rhythm after a rather lacklustre first half in the Everton game. Pochettino will be hoping for a comprehensive performance against the Eagles against whom they have an excellent head to head record of winning 10, drawing three and losing just once in the last fourteen games. Below is Tottenham’s predicted lineup to face Crystal Palace.
Goalkeeping
With Lloris out with a Hamstring injury, Michelle Vorm will have to step up in place of the Frenchman between the sticks. The 32-year-old made a wonderful save after just coming on against Everton to deny them the lead.
Defence
Tottenham’s defence was a little rusty in the game against Everton. The Belgian centre-back pairing of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen will keep their places in the heart of defense. Danny Rose and Kyle Walker too will maintain their status in the starting eleven. Everton’s movement through wide areas really limited full-backs’ ability to influence the game offensively but against Crystal Palace they might have a big role to play in attack.
Midfield
Although there is a slight chance of Pochettino tinkering with the two-man pivot, it is highly likely that the Argentine will stick with two defensive midfielders in Wanyama and Dier. Wanyama’s rash decision-making cost Tottenham a free-kick which in turn resulted in the lone goal for Everton. Despite their being speculations about Janssen starting ahead of Wanyama in a two striker system which had worked in the previous game, I think the gaffer would be willing to give Wanyama another chance.
Up ahead, Eriksen and Lamela will start on the wings with Dele Alli deployed as the fake number nine just behind Kane. Lamela had a great game while both Alli and Eriksen struggled to get into any sort of groove against Everton. Tottenham will need assistance from their full-backs to amplify the influence of Eriksen and Lamela who prefer to cut in centrally. Eriksen’s performance was particularly criticized after the Danish midfielder kept running into defenders with ongoing talks of a wage hike.
Attack
Pochettino revealed in a recent press conference that he is open to starting Vincent Janssen ahead of Harry Kane upfront. He will prefer to have that game changer figure on the bench if things don’t go according to plan and the game is locked in a stalemate.
