Team in Focus: Crystal Palace - strengths, weaknesses and prospects

Premier League

Tottenham 4-0 Crystal Palace
Son 10, 23
Van Aanholt (og) 21
Lamela 42

Tottenham v Crystal Palace match report

This was a match where the statistics did not do justice to the outcome with Tottenham rated only 0.4 goals superior to Crystal Palace on expected goals (excluding Patrick van Aanholt's own goal) as the visitors finished with more shots on target (6-5).

However, Spurs' win was as comprehensive as the score suggests as they eased off when the points were in the bag thanks to an explosive start which saw Heung-Min Son score twice and Erik Lamela also on target.

Palace offered little outside of the odd set-piece in the first half and only when Wilfried Zaha was pushed wide on the left did they start to create any moments of joy from open play.

Crystal Palace tactics

Roy Hodgson went 4-4-2 to start with but it was a narrow mess.

Cheikhou Kouyate was tucked in too much on the right so Spurs had an easy out-ball to Danny Rose and with nobody pressuring Toby Alderweireld he was able to spray passes at will. Once Palace started to over-compensate down their right Spurs simply switched the play to opposite full-back Serge Aurier.

Once the game was virtually over Hodgson changed to a 4-5-1 and there was greater balance with Zaha on the left rather than up front alongside Jordan Ayew but by then it was too late.

Crystal Palace strengths

Zaha was the only spark and even that was sporadic. He also seemed a bit sulky, perhaps hinting at his dissatisfaction at not being able to leave Palace in the summer.

Mamadou Sakho was rusty on his first start of the season but it will have been a relief to Hodgson to see such an influential performer return to fitness. Sakho can only get better.

Crystal Palace weaknesses

Ayew failed to hold up the ball, although that was not the only area of concern and they barely threatened offensively unless Zaha had the ball.

Full-backs Van Aanholt and James Ward were given a tough time, however, in fairness to both they were given little protection by those in front.

Crystal Palace goalscorer bets

Goalscoring looks like it will be a problem for Palace all season, therefore it may pay to look at those further down the list for value. Gary Cahill connected with one set-piece and is clearly a target, while Van Aanholt, who notched the winner in the 2-1 at Manchester United, had the joint-most shots for Palace with two efforts.

View from Roy Hodgson

"We have to hold our hands up and admit we were beaten by the better team. It's going to be a very long, hard fight to stay in this league."

Crystal Palace prospects

Despite being seen as specialists at counter-attacking against elite opponents this is a game most people expected Palace to lose. It was not so much the result, but the lack of hunger and firepower which should be of concern.

It could be argued they are extremely fortunate to have seven points, particularly given the Eagles have scored the fewest league goals with just three.

They were lucky to beat United and could quite easily be dragged into a relegation battle unless things improve.

How did Tottenham play?

This was a bit more like it from Tottenham, who have made a strange start to the season. Son continues to shine and it was interesting to see he had five shots compared to one for Harry Kane, who laid on a cracking assist for Lamela, and was happy dropping deeper.

Tottenham v Crystal Palace teams

Tottenham 4-4-2: Lloris; Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose (Davies 76); Lamela, Sissoko, Winks (Ndombele 67), Eriksen; Son, Kane (Moura 85).

Crystal Palace 4-4-2: Guaita; Ward, Cahill, Sakho, Van Aanholt; Kouyate (McCarthy 76), Milivojevic, Schlupp, Townsend (Camarasa 85); Zaha, Ayew (Benteke 71).

Next three Premier League fixtures

Tottenham: Leicester (a), Southampton (h), Brighton (a)

Crystal Palace:Wolves (h), Norwich (h), West Ham (a)

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