Sports Mole previews Sunday's Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Tottenham Hotspur play host to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day looking to extend their five-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League.

While the home side currently occupy seventh position in the standings, Palace are down in 11th spot after just one win from their last six fixtures.

Match preview

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their first goal on December 19, 2021 © Reuters

Despite collecting 11 points from a possible 15 in the Premier League under Antonio Conte, Spurs are still fully to hit their stride since the appointment of the Italian.

Nevertheless, that is something which will only lead to optimism among the club's fanbase as they look to take advantage of their games in hand in a bid to chase down fourth-placed Arsenal.

Harry Kane finally netted his second Premier League goal of the campaign during last weekend's enthralling 2-2 draw with Liverpool, but it is Lucas Moura who is finding a different gear under Conte.

The Brazilian has contributed three goals and an assist since November 4, the latest of those strikes coming during the 2-1 win over West Ham United in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

However, Spurs were fortunate to see out the second half against the Hammers, and Conte will want to see more of a ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch.

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira pictured on October 18, 2021 © Reuters

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira has had few issues with getting a reaction from his team in the final third of late, the Eagles netting five times in two homes games versus Everton and Southampton.

Consistency remains an issue, however, with Palace only winning just once in six outings and failing to keep a clean sheet in each of those fixtures.

Sitting nine points above the relegation zone heading into Christmas, Vieira cannot have too many complaints, but there have been numerous suggestions that this Palace team is not always playing to its full potential.

While Conor Gallagher continues to upstage Wilfried Zaha as the new star of this side, the long-serving winger now has five strikes for the season after ending a five-game goal drought versus the Saints last time out.

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Crystal Palace Premier League form:

Team News

Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli during the warm up before the match, December 5, 2021 © Reuters

With Conte likely to revert to using a 3-4-3 formation, Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele could both drop out of the Spurs team which held Liverpool.

Sergio Reguilon should feature ahead of Ryan Sessegnon, while Harry Winks and Moura are also in line for a start.

Despite making a positive impression against West Ham in the EFL Cup, Steven Bergwijn will likely be named as a substitute.

Joachim Andersen is in line to return to the Palace defence after injury, something which would result in James Tomkins dropping to the bench.

Vieira must decide whether to hand a recall to Vicente Guaita or give a second successive outing to Jack Butland.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Winks, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Moura, Kane, Son

Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Butland; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, Hughes, Kouyate; Ayew, Edouard, Zaha

SM words green background

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Crystal Palace

Having named a strong team in midweek, Conte is valuing momentum over squad momentum, and we feel that will continue on Boxing Day. While Palace will pose a threat to their hosts on the break, Spurs should have enough in the tank to collect all three points.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tottenham Hotspur win with a probability of 58.11%. A draw had a probability of 22.8% and a win for Crystal Palace had a probability of 19.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a Tottenham Hotspur win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.52%) and 2-1 (9.85%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.83%), while for a Crystal Palace win it was 0-1 (5.97%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 6.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Tottenham Hotspur would win this match.