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Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Crystal Palace

Sports Mole previews the Premier League clash between Tottenham and Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane as Spurs seek successive home wins for the first time this term.

Tottenham Hotspur will go in search of successive home wins for the first time this season when they entertain Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.

Spurs have already lost four times at White Hart Lane this term, but produced arguably their best display under Mauricio Pochettino to beat Everton last weekend.

Another encouraging performance followed at Chelsea on Wednesday, with Pochettino perplexed as to how his side had lost 3-0 to the table-topping Blues, a result which left them 10th in the standings.

Tottenham had 61% possession and hit the crossbar early on through Harry Kane, but defensive mistakes and clinical finishing combined to extend their winless run at Stamford Bridge to 25 years.

Eagles boss Neil Warnock this week revealed that he tried to sign in-form forward Kane, who has 10 goals in 18 appearances in all competitions this season, in the final days of the summer transfer window.

The 66-year-old was left lamenting his lack of a prolific striker following the 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday, in which Christian Benteke scored the only goal of the game on his return from suspension.

Dwight Gayle and former Spurs loanee Frazier Campbell are battling to lead the line this weekend, but Ezekiel Fryers, who left the Lilywhites to join Palace on deadline day, is expected to be kept waiting for his debut.

In midfield, Joe Ledley could return in place of James McArthur after recovering from the knock which caused him to sit out in midweek, while Wilfried Zaha may be given another chance at Jason Puncheon's expense.

Adrian Mariappa and Damien Delaney remain on the sidelines, so Brede Hangeland and Scott Dann, who was blamed by Warnock for Benteke's 32nd-minute strike, will continue as the centre-back pairing.

They could be up against Roberto Soldado, who was dropped for the London derby despite his morale-boosting winner against Everton. Aaron Lennon may be axed to accommodate him in the attacking quartet.

With Etienne Capoue injured, academy graduates Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason seem to be Pochettino's favoured midfield combination. Danny Rose, Emmanuel Adebayor and Andros Townsend are also sidelined.

Kyle Naughton is available again after a ban, but Vlad Chiriches seems to be the man filling in at right-back before Kyle Walker's imminent return. Captain Younes Kaboul may only find himself on the bench again.

Spurs:

Form in Premier League: LWLWWL
Form in all competitions: WLWWWL

Possible starting lineup: Lloris; Chiriches, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Bentaleb, Mason; Lamela, Kane, Eriksen; Soldado

Palace:

Recent form: DLLWDL

Possible starting lineup: Speroni; Kelly, Dann, Hangeland, Ward; Bolasie, Jedinak, Ledley, Zaha; Chamakh, Campbell

Sports Mole says: 1-1


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Mile Jedinak of Crystal Palace celebrates with team mates as he scores their first and equalising goal from a penalty during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Crystal Palace at Liberty Stadium on November 29, 2014
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