Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace
Venue: White Hart Lane
Kick off: 3pm
Tottenham Hotspur will look to record their first three points of the 2016-17 Premier League season when they welcome London rivals, Crystal Palace, to White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Spurs opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw at Everton last weekend, while Palace, who are currently struggling to secure transfer targets, disappointingly lost 1-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion.
One look at the Premier League table from the 2015-16 campaign would suggest that it was a brilliant year for Tottenham.
While third position exceeded their target at the start of the season, there is a feeling that it was an opportunity missed to claim the league title, or at least finish above bitter rivals Arsenal in the division.
As it transpired, they managed neither.
Leicester City finished 11 points clear of Spurs at the top of the table and Arsenal grabbed second on the final weekend after Mauricio Pochettino’s side lost heavily at already-relegated Newcastle United.
It is difficult to ascertain what the targets are for this season, but Spurs might well be up against it as they battle to balance the Premier League and Champions League.
Entering 2016, Palace were top-four challengers in the Premier League and head coach Alan Pardew was being tipped as the next England manager after seemingly working miracles at Selhurst Park. Fast forward eight months and Pardew is staring at what could be a very difficult campaign for the London outfit.
Incredibly, Palace have won just two of their 20 Premier League matches in 2016, suffering 13 defeats in the process. Andros Townsend, James Tomkins and Steve Mandanda have arrived to add freshness to the squad, but the likes of Yannick Bolasie, Dwight Gayle and Mile Jedinak have all sought pastures new.
Tottenham possible starting lineup: Vorm, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Wanyama, Lamela, Alli, Eriksen, Kane.
Palace possible starting lineup: Hennessey, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare, Cabaye, Puncheon, Zaha, Lee, Townsend, Wickham.