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Tottenham Hotspur return to action in the English Premier League after the International break on Saturday against their London rivals, Crystal Palace. Spurs have suffered a setback during the international break, with a serious hip injury to midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso, who is set to be out of action for a considerable amount of time. Players like Tanguy Ndombele, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ryan Sessegnon, Juan Foyth and Eric Dier are also doubtful for the clash.
On the other hand, Roy Hodgson's men have had a decent run of form in the Premier League before the international break. The beat Manchester United and Aston Villa and are currently sitting on fourth position in the league table. The Eagles have seven points including two wins, a draw and their only loss was against Sheffield United.
Despite being early days, Pochettino will be wary of the threat that Roy Hodgson's team possesses in general. BigPesa suggests that the home side are the favourites to win this tie at odds of 1.4.
Last Meeting between the two sides?
The last time these two sides from London played each other was in the Premier League, way back in April this year. Tottenham won the game 2-0, with goals coming from Heung Min Son and Christian Eriksen.
The Eagles have a very poor head-to-head record against their neighbours. Out of their last five meetings, Crystal Palace have lost four and all of them were in the Premier League. The only time they could turn the tables against Spurs was in the FA Cup in January, earlier this year. The Eagles won 2-0 and both Conor Wickham and ex-Spurs man Andros Townsend bagged a goal each in the famous win.
Hence, Roy Hodgson and his men will be looking to take some inspiration from that FA Cup win, though the odds are against them winning (1.4). A draw is placed at 5.4, while a win for the visitors is placed at 7.6 on BigPesa.
Will Spurs reign supreme again or will Crystal Palace leave their mark?
Despite all the injuries, Spurs are still favourites to win this game. However, Palace are a team in great shape and probably the international break came at the wrong time for them, as they were getting into a serious rhythm.
A cohesive effort from the Eagles can still breach the porous backline of Spurs, as shown by Newcastle United and Arsenal in their last two games. Pochettino will be wary of players like Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew, as the latter has been in good goal-scoring form. He has scored in both their wins against Manchester United and Aston Villa.
The game is expected to have 2-3 goals (2.12), though there is a chance that there may be 4-6 goals (2.9) as well. Harry Kane (3.65) is the favourite to score the first goal of the game, as per BigPesa. It will be a close match, with the two teams from London looking to take all three points on the night.
