No one expected Tottenham Hotspur to achieve the rare win at Stamford Bridge, and even fewer would have predicted Chelsea to be the one to self-destruct in this fixture, yet an amazing result last weekend has pushed Spurs up to just two points behind sixth place heading into the next matchweek. Obviously, the season is extremely young, and there are a million clubs all bunched together in the table still, but it shows that the slow start could end up just being a blip.
Tottenham must keep the momentum
heading into a date with Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Eagles are just 2-5-1 in the league, with both wins coming over clubs below both them — and Spurs. Across all competitions they have just one win in five, losing to Lyon and drawing against Bestikas in the Europe League before (unconvincingly) defeating Fulham in the League Cup on Wednesday.
This is a struggling club against one that finally looks to be putting it all together. Perhaps that brings the risk of Dr. Tottenham, but I think instead this is only the beginning of what a revamped Tottenham can be. Yes, injuries are still popping up, and two wins does not erase two-plus years of struggles, but this is not the time to be negative!
Match Details
Date: Saturday, October 31
Time: 1:30 pm ET, 5:30 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: NBC (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)
Palace has won three of the last four in this fixture, including a miserable result at in North London last March. Igor Tudor’s gang grabbed the lead, but then lost Micky van de Ven to a red card and watched three goals go in within the 10 minutes between that and half time. Spurs had won the reverse fixture, though, with Archie Gray grabbing the lone goal at Selhurst Park right after Christmas.
Optimistically riding the vibes
While Tottenham amassed just 0.86xG against Coventry and 0.74 xG against Chelsea, the attack absolutely looks refreshed. Five goals in those contests might be slightly generous, but certainly zero through the first four was also not exactly representative of reality. As water inevitably finds its level, there are growing reasons to think this attack might end up just fine.
Palace has not been good defensively, conceding five against Brighton and a pair against Newcastle last weekend, while also allowing multiple goals to Lyon and Besiktas. The additional fixtures are not making things easy, and truthfully this does seem like a good time to be facing the Eagles. I know I said the opposite about Chelsea and we saw how that turned out, but clearly there is an opportunity here.
Chelsea and Palace are different in nearly every way, but Roberto De Zerbi seemed to get a lot of his selections right last weekend. With James Maddison a doubt, hopefully Mateus Fernandes keeps his place, as should Mathys Tel after his sensational capper at Stamford Bridge; I also would like to see Omar Marmoush continue to start up top, who should be able to take advantage when Spurs are able to break the visitor’s press.
Pessimistically paranoid
Though Pierre Sage has now seen his squad go goalless in three of the past four league fixtures, its nine league goals are still technically more than Tottenham’s eight this season. If Spurs were overachieving the analytics the last couple weekends, Palace was the opposite against Newcastle, failing to score despite racking up 1.59 xG on 17 shots and 30 touches in the box.
The Eagles are unlikely to seek out much possession, and will instead look for chances to strike quickly via threats like Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Dwight McNeil. Spurs have been better defensively but still have their shaky moments, and there is enough talent in this side to spring a dangerous counter, especially if the Tottenham attack is frustrated in the final third.
Even if the defense holds up, finishing is still an unknown for De Zerbi’s squad. I know I just talked about the attack fairly positively, but there absolutely is a way this plays out with the home side dominating possession and still yielding very little, be that due to an inability to pick apart a structured back line or a failure to capitalize on the high value chances. A low-scoring draw is always going to be a possibility in these sorts of fixtures.
Realistically actually ok
Seasons will have ups and downs and surely we are experiencing one of those plentiful times right now, but that is no reason to not enjoy it while it lasts. Invariably, a bad result from a poor performance is coming, as is the case for nearly every team. However, Tottenham Hotspur has waited long enough to feel like some actual progress is being made, and suddenly it feels like we are here.
Palace is not at the very bottom of the table, but is not far off, and is not a team with a ton of confidence right now. Going out and taking care of business, at home — for the second time in a row! — would speak volumes to where this club currently is with its influx of signings and commitment to De Zerbi. The path back to relevance takes one step at a time, and this is a great chance to keep inching forward.
