Monday’s inaccessible draw at Burnley won’t live long in the memories of many Spurs fans, and it shouldn’t for the players either.
After our stunning win over Chelsea, the FA Cup tie seemed like a stop-gap to keep momentum flowing. Unfortunately, we slumped to a draw, adding another fixture to our already congested timetable, and halting our momentum.
A return to winning ways is a must at Selhurst Park, where Alan Pardew takes charge of Crystal Palace for the first time in the Premier League. The last time the Eagles claimed three points was way back in November, where Mile Jedinak’s free kick deflated Liverpool.
Source: tottenhamhotspur.com
The Australian holding midfielder has made a name for himself since Palace were promoted to the top flight. Fortunately for us, the South Londoners will be without Jedinak, as he is away at the Asian Cup. Similarly, we won’t be troubled by tricky winger Yannick Bolasie, who is away at the African Cup of Nations.
Whilst we can be thankful for their absentees, we will be without a key player ourselves- Nabil Bentaleb. The Algerian, like Bolasie, is away at AFCON, and we will sorely miss him in the middle of the park. Considering this time last year he was a new face amongst the first team, his rise has been remarkable.
Bentaleb gave us security and stability in midfield. His partnership with Ryan Mason has proved to be a successful one, and for the next month we will have a tough job struggling to replicate it.
Mason could start following a knock, but it looks like a battle between Mousa Dembele and Benjamin Stambouli to start alongside him. The Belgian would be near enough a like-for-like swap for Bentaleb (apart from his tendency to dwell on the ball and pick a pass), but the Frenchman would allow Mason the freedom to roam forward (well, at least that’s how it’s planned).
Erik Lamela may return from a niggling injury, but I expect Pochettino to allow Townsend to start on the right after proving a capable deputy in the Argentine’s absence.
Our win over Chelsea meant we took advantage of a poor day for the teams around us, picking up points when Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool dropped them. This time around, a win could send us level on points with 3rd placed Manchester United.
The turnaround to our season has been enjoyable, nonetheless remarkable, but we’re not done yet. To think our progress should end here would end our season. Yes, we have a cup semi-final on the horizon, but we still need to keep playing well and picking up points.
Our run of six league games without defeat is the best run of form since Tim Sherwood first took charge- yes, really, I’ve triple checked this.
Some have pointed out similarities in this season to the 2012-13 season, which brings about good omens such as our highest points total in the Premier League, and we set a twelve match unbeaten run during this period in that season.
Three points from Palace could mean a lot ahead of another busy month. Mauricio Pochettino promised us a club we could be proud of when he first took the job- now, we’re starting to see it.
Predicted XI: Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Mason, Dembele; Townsend, Eriksen, Chadli; Kane
Sean Walsh
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