Overview
Last season, Crystal Palace under Oliver Glasner reached the peak of glory when raising the FA Cup at Wembley. However, the dream of returning to this holy land has just been rekindled in a regrettable way.
In the context of a tired squad and the absence of many key players, Palace still managed to prove their bravery when drawing 1-1 with Arsenal in 90 minutes at the Emirates. However, the penalty shootout turned into a nightmare. Maxence Lacroix - who previously conceded a goal - closed a terrible evening with a decisive miss.
When a road to titles has closed, Palace can focus back on the Premier League, where they are slipping out of the European cup group after 2 consecutive defeats against Manchester City and Leeds United.
More worryingly, in the 180 minutes of those 2 defeats, Palace only scored 1 goal but conceded 7 times. More broadly, the home team's winning streak in all competitions has lasted 4 matches, with a total of 10 goals conceded.
However, Palace often gets into shape as the new year approaches. They have won the last match of the solar year in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. If they continue their triumphal song, this will be the first time they have won the last match of the year in 5 consecutive years.
In the opposite direction, Tottenham has not lost in their last match before January 1st since 2018, but white-shirted fans will probably come to Selhurst Park with more hope than expected.
Last weekend, Liverpool scored the same number of goals as the number of red cards that Thomas Frank's player received. The reigning Premier League champion caused Spurs to lose their fourth match in the last 6 rounds, leading to a wave of speculation about the future of the Danish coach.
A part of the fans has begun to shake their faith, especially when Frank has just lost an important personnel in the coaching staff. Even so, he still receives support from the upper echelons in the current period.
However, this task is much more difficult than words. Tottenham has lost 4 and drawn 1 in their last 5 away matches, conceding 18 goals in that period, averaging one goal conceded in about 25 minutes.
Not only that, the reigning Europa League champion also lost to Palace in both legs in the 2024-2025 season, not scoring a single goal. Now, Spurs are facing the risk of losing consecutively at Selhurst Park for the first time in history.
Personnel situation
Crystal Palace's force situation continues to give Oliver Glasner a headache. Chris Richards suddenly suffered a foot injury in the match against Arsenal. Eddie Nketiah also had physical problems when facing his old club, so the possibility of participating is still open.
Besides, Palace is definitely missing a series of important personnel. Ismaila Sarr (AFCON), Daniel Munoz (knee), Daichi Kamada (strap), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Chadi Riad (knee) and Caleb Kporha (back).
Jean-Philippe Mateta is still affected by a knee injury, but he just played the full 90 minutes in the middle of the week and is expected to continue to start against Tottenham.
On Tottenham's side, Xavi Simons began a 3-match suspension for serious mistakes in the match against Liverpool. Cristian Romero is currently suspended for 1 match and is still at risk of receiving an additional penalty due to recent accusations from the FA. In case Romero is absent, Kevin Danso is likely to be a replacement in the defense.
In attack, Richarlison, Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson will compete for a starting spot to replace Simons. Among them, Richarlison is rated brighter after scoring an honorary goal from the bench last weekend.
Expected lineup:
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Canvot, Lacroix, Guehi, Clyne, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell, Pino, Devenny, Mateta.
Vicario, Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Spence, Gray, Bentancur, Kudus, Bergvall, Kolo Muani, Richarlison.
The match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham takes place at 11:30 PM on December 28th (Vietnam time).
