Matches against London teams are always tough and tight matches. It is going to be the same against Palace. We do have a good record against them in recent years but have only won all our last 4 matches against them 1-0. They will make it hard for us again. We need to be ruthless and clinical in front of goal and at the same time defend tightly. As the 3-2 win over Wolves showed last week, even a 3-0 lead is not enough for us as long as we cannot keep the clean sheets. Let's hope our attack and defence will do their job perfectly to help us beat Palace.
Kane has done well to score 3 goals in our last 2 matches despite not being at his best. Hope he can continue his goal scoring run. Kane did score our only goal when we beat Palace 1-0 away last season. It will help us greatly if he can score again. Apart from Kane, we also need other players to help us score the goals. Moura and Lamela have been our best players so far this season. It was good to see Moura scoring against Wolves after not scoring in recent matches. Hope he will score consistently for us. Lamela has been in brilliant form this season, scoring 6 goals and getting 3 assists in 12 matches. PSV(twice), ManCity and Cardiff are the only teams who have stopped him scoring or assisting any goals. Hope Lamela will start and score or assist a few goals against Palace. Wish Eriksen and Alli will be fit to at least start on the bench. Son really needs to get back his form as he has not scored in the league since March.
Our midfield seem to be having too many injury problems this season. It is disappointing that Dembele who has just returned from injury has got another long term injury yet again. With Wanyama and Dier also struggling with injuries, not sure who will start in midfield. I will prefer if Sissoko starts as his work rate will help us stop any opponents. Maybe we should convert Sissoko into a defensive midfielder since he defends better than helping our attacks. Winks did well against PSV, so maybe he can start as well.
Our defence really need to step up their game. It seems like we find it hard to keep the clean sheets this season. We have badly missed Vertonghen who is still out injured. Wish he can come back soon as our defence are struggling badly without him. Alderweireld has not been at his best since returning to our first team while Sanchez and Foyth are making too many mistakes. I think Lloris as the captain should be more vocal in organizing our defence and keep them alert all the time. Let's hope Lloris and the defenders will be at their best to help us get the much needed clean sheet against Palace.
We need to beat teams like Palace if we want to stay in the top 4 race this season. It is going to be another tight and tense match against Palace. We need to get an early goal to help us settle our nerves and then go for more goals to kill the game off. Wish we can get a comfortable win as it has been a long time since we get a big win in the league. Let's hope we will turn up with the right team and meteorology to beat Palace and improve our league standings.
