Tottenham’s Premier League campaign got off to a rocky start as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton on Saturday. Erik Lamela’s second-half header salvaged a point for Spurs who have not lost to Everton in any of their last eight Premier League meetings. The Argentine international has had a hand in seven goals in his last seven Premier League outings for Tottenham (three goals, four assists).
For Spurs to record their first victory of the season this coming weekend, they will need Harry Kane to step up his play against Crystal Palace. Kane was basically a non-factor in Tottenham’s league opener against Everton as he found the going difficult playing as a lone striker. Mauricio Pochettino needs to tweak his lineup against Palace and play Kane in a much more attacking setup. The Englishman had a highly-successful stint for Spurs last season, winning the Premier League’s golden boot award by scoring a whopping 25 goals.
New season, same old result for Crystal Palace. Their 2016 blues continued on Saturday as they suffered an embarrassing 1-0 home loss to West Bromwich Albion in their Premier League opener. Salomon Rondon’s 74th-minute header was enough to give West Brom the narrow victory and send Palace crashing to their 13th league defeat this year. Only Aston Villa have lost more Premier League matches (14) this year.
Things are bound to get tougher for Palace as standing in their way in the next match are Tottenham. Spurs have won each of their last two meetings with Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Tottenham outscored Palace, 4-1, during that span. That being said, Alan Pardew’s men will take comfort in the fact that they defeated Tottenham in their last meeting at White Hart Lane. Palace stunned Spurs, 1-0, in the FA Cup last February.
For Palace to replicate that shock result this coming weekend, they will need to improve on their play on the offensive end. Even though they controlled 62 percent of the possession in that match, they only managed to land four shots on target. To address their attacking woes, Alan Pardew decided to break the bank and sign Liverpool striker Christian Benteke for £32 million. The Belgian international scored 10 goals in 42 appearances for the Reds last season.
