Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick off: 3:15PM
Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to keep hold of top spot in the Premier League come the end of the weekend as they make the trip to London rivals Crystal Palace.
Spurs enter matchday 11 in first place, level on points with reigning champions Liverpool and two in front of Chelsea, following a run of 10 top-flight games without defeat.
Palace head into today’s match at Selhurst Park on the back of a morale-boosting 5-1 win over West Bromwich Albion last time out, a win that moved them up to 11th place.
As the season enters the festive period, Tottenham can be delighted with their campaign to date on multiple fronts.
The Lilywhites have an EFL Cup quarter-final trip to Stoke City on the horizon, are through to the knockout stages of the Europa League and are top of the Premier League.
There is no doubt that finishing top of the domestic league for the first time since 1961 is the top priority for Spurs fans, but any sort of silverware would be appreciated.
Spurs kept their momentum going with a 2-0 win over Royal Antwerp in the Europa League on Thursday, picking up the win needed to finish above their opponents at the top of Group J.
That ensures Tottenham will be among the seeded sides at Monday’s last-32 draw, though Mourinho will happily put that competition to one side until its resumption in February.
For now the Premier League is all that counts, and Spurs find themselves in a very strong position thanks to a return of 24 points from 30 since losing to Everton on matchday one.
Last week’s 2-0 win over Arsenal followed a victory by the same scoreline against Manchester City and another clean sheet in a stalemate with Chelsea.
Spurs have proved they are capable of mixing it with the division’s elite, and now they have a chance to stay in front of Liverpool ahead of next week’s showdown between the sides.
That will be a truly massive game, but Mourinho’s men cannot take their eye off the ball this weekend, even if Palace have had an up-and-down campaign to date.
The Eagles were given a helping hand by Matheus Pereira’s sending-off in last week’s big win over West Brom, that victory following defeats to Burnley and Newcastle United.
Roy Hodgson’s side failed to register in those two losses, though they did put four past Leeds United and five past the Baggies.
To put that into some context, they managed to score four or more goals in just three of their first 117 games under Hodgson.
However, Tottenham have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Palace and are unbeaten in 10 in this fixture, winning nine of those.
Crystal Palace possible XI: Guaita, Clyne, Kouyate, Cahill, Van Aanholt, Schlupp, Milivojevic, McArthur, Eze, Zaha, Benteke.
Tottenham Hotspur possible XI: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Reguilon, Sissoko, Hojbjerg Bergwijn, Ndombele, Son, Kane.