Spurs will be looking to turn around their recent poor form when take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst park on Wednesday night. Palace come into this one off the back of a 2-0 win over Bournemouth, and having seen Spurs’ recent frailties, they’ll be confident in being able to build some momentum. Conte’s men have conceded 4 in 2 since returning from the World Cup, and he will be eager for his side to stem the tide in this very fixture.
You can immerse yourself in my stats pack for this evening’s clash below which is packed with all the info you could possibly need to construct better bet builders for the fixture. Goals, shots, card, corners, passes, it’s all there. Check out my Stats Pack Guide for some pointers about how to get the most out of the data.
Predicted Lineups
Crystal Palace left back Tyrick Mitchell remains suspended after his red card vs Fulham. James Tomkins will be available after serving his one match ban, although he is unlikely to start.
Joel Ward will probably feature again in the Palace backline. The home team can be expected to lineup in the familiar 4-3-3 formation which Patrick Vieira prefers.
Midfielder Yves Bissouma is suspended for Spurs after yellow card accumulation. There is a major doubt surrounding Dejan Kulusevski who missed the fixture vs Aston Villa due to injury. The trio of Richarlison, Bentacur and Lucas Moura will all likely miss out again as well.
Manager Antonio Conte was very critical of his team after the recent defeat so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him shake things up a bit in terms of team selection.
Team Stats
Palace only average 1.06 goals per game which is a slight underachievement of their xG of 1.24. Their xGA per game is 1.67 but they’ve only conceded 1.31. Palace only average 10.70 shots per 90 mins which is quite a low figure. They are not the most free-shooting of teams and their opponents average more, 13.10 in each fixture. Less than a third of their shots conceded have been on target though (4.13) which goes some way to explaining their decent defensive record.
The high card count is noticeable in Palace fixtures. They average 2.31 cards themselves, with their opponents racking up 2.06 per match. Corners have not been in abundance as much though and they rank fairly mediocre in that category, only averaging 4.06, with their opponents 4.44. Palace operate with inverted wingers or inside forwards a lot which might explain their relatively low corner count.
Spurs average 1.94 goals per game and concede 1.57. These numbers correlate quite closely to their xGA and xGA numbers, so what you see is what you get here. Tottenham matches have been containing a lot of shots this season. They fired in 14.06 themselves, but also conceded numerous at the other end with their opponents averaging exactly 14.00 shots per 90 mins. Spurs have fired an impressive 5.35 SOT per game and have regularly been testing the keeper.
Tottenham are no strangers to corners and obtained 6.29 in each fixture on average. Their opponents have picked up 4.24 corners per game. Cards have also been plentiful in Spurs fixtures. Conte’s men rack up an average of 1.88 per 90 mins and managed to draw 2.35 cards per game from their opponents.
Player Shots and Shots on Target
Both Jean-Phillippe Mateta and Odsonne Edouard rank highly for shots per 90 mins but neither are expected to start for Palace here. Wilfried Zaha (2.31) and Eze (2.20) are both two candidates to watch in this department, but both average less than one SOT per 90 mins.
Right winger Jordan Ayew averages a very low 0.76 shots per game and he is more of a defensive and pressing winger with a role in the team which is not goalscoring. Midfielder Cheick Doucoure averages 1.03 shots per game and will usually try his luck at some point.
It is no surprise to see Harry Kane average the most shots per 90 mins out of any Spurs player (3.45). His SOT ratio hasn’t been bad either (1.54) and close to the 50% mark. Son Heung-min also has similar accuracy, converting his 3.05 shots per game into 1.49 SOT.
Most of the other players on this list are likely to be injured and won’t feature. Left wing back Ryan Sessengnon averages 2.09 shots per 90 mins at a poor accuracy rate and could be one to watch off the substitutes bench for some late efforts.
Player Goals and Assists
Wilfried Zaha is the leading Palace scorer with six goals. Eze is next on the list with three goals, joint with Odsonne Edouard. Midfielder Michael Olise tops the Palace assist charts with four, whilst both Eze and Zaha have also contributed in this department for supplying goals.
Only Erling Braut Haaland has scored more Premier League goals this season than Harry Kane. The England captain has netted 13 goals which is significantly more than the next two men on this list, Bentacur and Hojberg who have four goals each.
Son Heung-min has had a disappointing season and only bagged three goals so far. Dejan Kulusevski is the leading Spurs assist provider this season with five but is unlikely to play here because of injury. Ivan Perisic has four assists from the left wing back spot.
Player passes
Palace have only averaged 47% overall possession this season and tend to be quite counter-attack focused in terms of tactics.
Only two players, both centre back Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi have averaged over 60 passes per 90 mins and are the two players best looked at in this market, especially as both should last the full match barring injury.
Spurs have not been a particularly possession-hungry side this season and only averaged 51% total possession. Only one player (Eric Dier) has averaged more than 70 passes per 90 mins and is the obvious candidate to lead them with this metric here.
Both Hojberg and Lenglet have averaged close to the 70 passing mark per game, although Hojberg is more reliable for minutes played.
Crystal Palace Cards
Centre back Marc Guehi has picked up five cards this season but only averaged 0.80 fouls per 90 mins. Joel Ward could be one to watch here because he fouls on average 1.35 times per 90 mins and picked up four cards. He’s not a mainstay starter in this team so might feel the pressure.
In midfield, Cheick Doucoure is always good for a battle and it’s no surprise to see him obtain four cards in 14 appearances. Fellow midfielder Jeffrey Schlupp averages the most fouls per 90 mins of any Palace player on this list (2.13).
Richarlison, ever the show boater, leads Spurs for fouls drawn and dribbles but is unlikely to play here. Harry Kane is a canny player and has a strong knack of drawing tactical fouls. In total, he’s fouled 1.49 times per 90 mins and also has a surprisingly high dribbling rate of 2.68.
Son Heung-min has very similar numbers and those two are the obvious standouts who will give Place the most issues. Son especially could be a nightmare for Joel Ward. The midfield duel between Hojberg and Doucoure is also to be expected.
Match-Ups to watch
Marc Guehi vs Harry Kane
Joel Ward vs Son Heung-min
Cheick Doucoure vs Pierre Emile Hojberg
Tottenham Cards
Two key Spurs antagonists, Bentacur and Bissouma are both set to miss this match. Pierre Emile Hojberg could be one to watch in the midfield in their absence because someone will have to step up for the usual bite of a guy like Bissouma.
Harry Kane has picked up four cards but is likely to be on his best behaviour here. If he gets booked in this fixture he would miss the North London derby vs Arsenal, something he will want to avoid. Centre back Cristian Romero averages 1.33 fouls per 90 mins and could have problems against the tricky Palace attackers.
Palace have a quartet of players who regularly draw fouls. Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew are the two standouts in this category, aided by their high dribbling rates no doubt. Zaha has always been one of the most fouled players in the entire Premier League in recent seasons and will give the whole Spurs defence a difficult test.
Ivan Perisic will come up against Jordan Ayew so that could be an interesting clash. Both Michael Olise and Eze are also elusive types who get fouled over two times per 90 mins on average.
Match-Ups to watch
Cristian Romero vs Wilfried Zaha
Ivan Perisic vs Jordan Ayew
Pierre Emile Hojberg vs Michael Olise
