Preview: Can Tottenham secure an expected victory?
Tottenham Hotspur fails when they are not expected to fail, especially in the Premier League. Granted that they have beaten David Moyes’ Manchester United this season, they have also lost to smaller sides such as West Ham United. With just over half the season gone, Tottenham is already under new management. Andre Villas Boas was shown the door a few days after Spurs fell apart against City and Tim Sherwood was given the job.
Sherwood has so far shown nothing but positivity. On the touchline, he cuts a relaxed figure. His team’s shackles seem to have been taken off in recent weeks. They play free-flowing, devil-may-care football. However, the team has been rather vulnerable in defense. They lost to a very good Arsenal outfit in their previous match in the FA Cup. However, they did not look completely hapless.
Leading up to the match, the North London outfit had seemed to be in good shape. They had beaten United after beating Stoke comprehensively. In the match prior to the one against Stoke, they had drawn 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion. They had been clearly superior on the day but had failed to make their superiority count. They had beaten Southampton prior to that draw.
Crystal Palace is coming into this match on the back of win against West Brom in the FA Cup. In their two previous Premier League games, they lost narrowly to City, 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Norwich. With five wins, 13 losses and two draws to their name, Palace sits in eighteenth, looking to stave off relegation. They will be without Glenn Murray, Jack Hunt, Jerome Thomas and Adlene Guedioura coming into this one.
Spurs will have to make do without a large portion of their squad. Jan Vertonghen, Paulinho and Younes Kaboul remain sidelined. Roberto Soldado, Sandro, Kyle Naughton and Erik Lamela are all doubtful. Lamela and Lewis Holtby featured in a friendly which was closed off to the public recently. Holtby might return to action soon.
Spurs need to win this match to remain in the hunt for a top four spot. Can Crystal Palace pull off an unlikely upset?
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels
Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace live on Saturday, January 11, 2014:
In Canada at 10:00 ET on TalkSport Radio, RDS, TSN2
In the UK at 15:00 BST on Absolute Radio, BBC One
In the USA at 10:00 ET on NBC Sports Live Extra, NBCSN, SiriusXM FC, TalkSport Radio
In India, viewers can tune into Star Sports 4 India amongst other networks to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Tottenham-Crystal Palace match page.
