Going two weeks without Tottenham Hotspur in action felt like an eternity. No midweek European clash, no weekend Premier League action – just longing for the return of our Lilywhites.
Thankfully, the wait is finally over, and we’re gearing up for a massive London derby against Crystal Palace this weekend.
Chelsea’s involvement in the EFL Cup final threw a wrench in our schedule, but hopefully, it gave Ange Postecoglou and the boys some extra time to dissect that frustrating 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
We all felt like we were kicked in the gut that day – a single lapse in concentration let them snatch the win. Let’s just say, a repeat performance this weekend is absolutely out of the question.
Dejan Kulusevski’s cheeky little poke under Jose Sa’s legs briefly restored parity after a lapse in concentration allowed Joao Gomes to give the visitors a shocking lead.
But Wolves had the last laugh, with Gomes grabbing his second of the night. He rounded off an electrifying counter-attack spearheaded by none other than our summer target, Pedro Neto.
Honestly, that defeat wasn’t a complete surprise, considering our less-than-stellar showings against Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion.
We were lucky to scrape past the Seagulls with a last-minute winner and the defeat to Wolves meant we slipped back down to fifth in the Premier League table, with Aston Villa leapfrogging us into fourth place.
But on the plus side, we have a game in hand. And even though keeping a clean sheet seems like a distant memory for our boys (eight games without one in the league, yikes!), we’re still just five points behind Villa.
Plus, we’re three points ahead of Manchester United – not too shabby, right? Here’s the thing, we’ve already lost two capital derbies at home this season to our arch nemesis, Chelsea and West Ham United.
On a brighter note, Kulusevski’s goal against Wolves extended our incredible scoring streak to 37 Premier League matches in a row.
We need to get back to winning ways this weekend, and anything but that would be a disaster. A strong performance is imperative to keep our top-four hopes alive and show everyone that we’re still a force to be reckoned with.
Team News
As if the heartbreaking defeat to Wolves wasn’t enough, we also have a crippling defensive crisis to deal with ahead of the Palace clash and not for the first time this season.
Looks like we’ll be missing both Pedro Porro and Ryan Sessegnon for a while. Porro missed the last match with a strain, and now there are question marks over when he’ll be back.
Sessegnon picked up another cruel hamstring injury with the under-21s, which required surgery. That’s enough to keep him out for the remainder of the season.
While Fraser Forster (foot) and Manor Solomon (knee) welcome the luckless Sessegnon back into the treatment room, it’s not all doom and gloom on the injury front with Destiny Udogie back in contention.
The Italian also sat out the Wolves clash with a knee problem, but he should be fit for the derby, which means Ben Davies will likely be back on the bench.
Possible starting line-up
(4-2-3-1): Guglielmo Vicario; Emerson Royal, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr; Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Son Heung-min (c); Richarlison.