Crystal Palace vs Tottenham prediction: ENGLAND: Premier League betting tips on match 2023-10-26 19:00.
The Premier League’s (PL) unusual Friday night kick-off slot begins the tenth round of action this season, with a London derby between Crystal Palace and Tottenham taking centre stage. After a perfectly split record over the first nine rounds (W3, D3, L3), Crystal Palace will be reasonably happy with a solid start that sees them closer to the European places than the relegation zone by way of points.
It’s not all been plain sailing for Palace, who were trounced 4-0 by Newcastle at the weekend and felt the wrath of boss Roy Hodgson in the aftermath as he labelled their performance as “woefully short”. He went on to insist there were no positives to take from the afternoon, and his mood certainly won’t have been lifted when he realised Spurs were up next, a side who Palace have beaten just once in the last 16 PL H2Hs (D2, L13), with 11 of those losses coming without reply!
While positives are few and far between at Palace, they’re plentiful at Tottenham, who hold a two-point lead atop the PL table. The chance to open up a five-point gap to the chasing pack before the weekend’s action is the stuff of dreams for Spurs, but in an attempt to retain focus, boss Ange Postecoglou described their second-half performance in Monday’s 2-0 win against Fulham as the “worst” since he took charge in the summer.
The Aussie boss ought not to be too despondent though, as it was actually a record breaking evening for him and his team. The 23 points Postecoglou has earned so far this term represents the highest tally attained by a manager in their first nine PL games in charge, while Spurs’ opening to the season (W7, D2) is their fastest start to a campaign since 1960/61 when they went on to do the double!
Key battle: Odsonne Édouard was at the double the last time Palace beat Spurs in the PL, netting a brace after the 80th minute on what was his Selhurst Park debut. Postecoglou was the Celtic manager who sanctioned his move to south London back in 2021. He’ll be trying to beat Spurs’ stopper Guglielmo Vicario, which is easier said than done given he boasts a joint-PL high four clean sheets this term.
Hot stat: There hasn’t been a single goal scored in the first half of a Crystal Palace home league game this season.