Crystal Palace v Tottenham: Spurs can silence Selhurst on way to victory

Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Sunday 25th February, 12:00
Live on Sky Sports

Crystal Palace's injury crisis

Crystal Palace have had a fortnight's rest following their last outing, a 3-1 defeat at Everton. Despite bettering the shot count with 16 efforts, many were from range as the Eagles failed to show enough adventure to truly trouble the Toffees.

New £9m sighing Alexander Sorloth was used up front but when Palace lost the ball he was asked to track back down the left flank, creating a 4-5-1 formation when out of possession. His role meant Christian Benteke was isolated for large swathes of the encounter up top.

Wilfried Zaha remains sidelined here and the hosts have lost each of their last nine he's failed to start, firing blanks on eight occasions. Roy Hodgson will also have to make-do without Jason Puncheon, Bakary Sako, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Scott Dann and Jeffrey Schlupp whilst Martin Kelly and Mamadou Sakho are rated doubtful.

Tottenham look to bounce back

Tottenham made 11 changes to the side that fought back to earn a 2-2 draw with Juventus but were still expected to roll over League One outfit Rochdale in their most recent outing. It was a poor performance from Mauricio Pochettino's team as they leaked an equaliser in the third minute of added time.

With the exception of Lucas Moura, Spurs' experienced side misplaced passes, were slow to react in possession and generally looked lethargic. However, the result does extend their impressive unbeaten recent run to 14 fixtures.

Pochettino has a full squad available as Tottenham return to Premier League action at Selhurst Park on Sunday with the likes of Harry Winks and Toby Alderweireld now back up to full fitness.

Spurs can silence the Eagles

Crystal Palace 7.40 had lost just twice in 15 Premier League matches before visiting Merseyside but the reverse means Roy Hodgson's men have landing a sole success in six now as they've dropped to 14th and only two points above the dreaded drop zone.

The Eagles have lost each of their last five meetings with Tottenham, as well as three of their last four south of the river. In fact, Palace have been turned over in six of their eight matches against the Big Six this term and with a crippling injury crisis, look well worth opposing at the prices.

Spurs 1.53 have picked up excellent results against Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus in recent weeks and also boast a wonderful W12-D3-L1 return when travelling to bottom-half teams since the start of last season.

Considering half of those 12 triumphs arrived alongside a clean sheet, as well as five of their six away Premier League victories this term, backing the visitors to beat Palace 'to nil'appeals at 8/5.

Goals best left untouched

Seven (64%) of 11 Selhurst Park showdowns since Roy Hodgson took charge of Crystal Palace have delivered Over 2.5 Goals with eight (73%) seeing both sides score. However, the Eagles selection concerns make a goals-based play unappealing.

Only eight of Spurs' past 15 road trips to the bottom-half have featured three goals or more and the same figure produced successful Both Teams To Score selections. The visitors have crossed the Over 2.5 Goals whitewash just twice in seven league matches now.

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Back Tottenham to win to nil @ 8/5 in Crystal Palace v Tottenham