Tottenham Hotspur vs Crystal Palace. The FA Cup Fifth Round.
White Hart LaneAttendance35,547.
Sunday 21 February 2016 14:57, UK
Mauricio Pochettino is likely to shuffle his pack for Tottenham's FA Cup fifth-round clash with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Tottenham asserted their title credentials with a 2-1 win over Manchester City last weekend which took them to within two points of league leaders Leicester City.
Pochettino made six changes for Thursday night's 1-1 Europa League draw away to Fiorentina, with the likes of Harry Kane and Eric Dier dropping to the bench.
Captain Hugo Lloris (shoulder) will miss out with Michel Vorm again expected to deputise in goal, while Clinton Njie and Jan Vertonghen (both knee) are also absent.
Palace, who are without a win in nine Premier League matches, hope Yannick Bolasie will be fit to return after nine weeks out with a hip problem.
Paul Merson's prediction
Palace need to win a couple of games as they're on a slippery slope, but I can't go against Tottenham at the minute.
However, Spurs do need to be careful. They need to draw a line somewhere if they want to win the Premier League.
You can't lose to Fiorentina, lose to Crystal Palace and then lose two league games - your season could be over in a blink of an eye. I've seen it happen to Arsenal. They go out of everything in February, usually in the space of a two-week period.
It all depends what their plan is. Foreign managers usually like the Europa League, but I don't think they should go for it.
They should be careful in Europe. It's quite a big place. You've only got to get a bad draw and you could be travelling for five hours to get there.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-1 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)
Opta stats
Spurs and Palace have played five games against one another in the FA Cup and the away team has never scored a goal.
In the five FA Cup matches, Spurs have won two, Palace have won two and there has been one draw.
Spurs have won just three of their last 10 FA Cup matches against opponents from the top division (L5 D3).
Tottenham have won their last two FA Cup matches - they haven't won three on the bounce since 2007 (excluding penalty shootouts).
Palace have won four of their last five FA Cup matches away from home.
Spurs have won 10 and lost just one of their last 14 FA Cup matches at White Hart Lane.
Nacer Chadli has scored four goals in four FA Cup starts for Spurs.
Palace have won just two of their last 11 competitive games (W2 D3 L6).
Spurs have conceded less than a goal a game at home in all competitions this season (16 goals conceded in 18 games at White Hart Lane).
Betting
Tottenham are 4/6 favourites with Sky Bet to book a place in the FA cup quarter-finals with victory over 4/1 shots Crystal Palace, with the draw trading at 14/5. Spurs are 13/2 fourth favourites with Palace seen as 25/1 shots to win the trophy. They are available at 7/4 to win to nil and 5/2 to win by exactly one goal. Soccer Saturday pundit Phil Thompson is tipping Spurs to win 2-0 with Dele Alli scoring the opener in a 25/1 scorecast. See all the odds here.
