Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace Predictions

• Tottenham have lost 11 of their last 18 league games
• Palace have the seventh-best record in the league since Christmas
• The Eagles have won four of their five visits to the bottom six

The final countdown

Tottenham will go into this game just 10 days shy of a season-defining Europa League final, while visitors Crystal Palace will be lining up at Wembley for the FA Cup final next weekend. With both sides counting down to their big day out, how will they approach Sunday’s league encounter?

16th-placed Spurs have spurned the league in favour of their European run, but their struggles have been season-long. Crystal Palace have improved after a slow start, as they did last term. Only Liverpool, Man City, Newcastle, Arsenal, and Aston Villa have outperformed Palace since Christmas Day. At the other end of the table, only a dismal bottom three have fewer points than Tottenham, who have lost 11 of 18 outings.

Palace are worthy favourites

Palace are the shorter of the two sides going into Sunday’s encounter, despite failing to win their previous five games. However, they do have the form advantage in that regard, as Spurs have lost five of their previous eight.

This Tottenham side lost home clashes with Ipswich and Leicester back when they were taking the league seriously. Now the hosts are fully focused on Europe, while changes are guaranteed after a midweek trip as far north as football goes.

Oliver Glasner is set to stick with his strongest 11 ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final, so they have a huge opportunity to claim a good result. The Eagles could yet break into the top 10, so I’m also expecting them to be the more motivated of the pair.

Sarr can trouble Spurs

Palace have a brilliant record away to the league’s strugglers, winning four of their five trips to the bottom six. Their only slip-up – a 1-1 draw with Southampton – came days after a resounding FA Cup quarter-final win at Fulham.

The Eagles drew 2-2 at Arsenal in their last away game, edging out the Gunners in terms of Expected Goals in that clash. They were also comfortably better than Nottingham Forest by the same metric in their last game, winning the xG battle 2.3 to 0.7 against the Champions League hopefuls.

Tottenham look vulnerable heading into this clash, so Palace can continue a string of good displays and exit with the points. Look to Ismaila Sarr to impress for the visitors, as he has recorded 0.9 xG across his last two league matches, which came either side of his two-goal display against Villa at Wembley.