Tottenham v Crystal Palace: Preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Two wins in a row might not sound like much, but for Tottenham it has felt like a change in the weather.

The hosts spent September and the start of October stuck in a rut of draws and defeats, with a 0-0 against Everton and a 3-2 loss at home among the lowlights.

Then came a 3-1 win over Coventry at home and a 2-0 victory at Chelsea last Saturday, the sort of result that makes a fanbase sit up a little straighter.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, have gone the other way. A 5-0 defeat at Brighton was followed by a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle, and the visitors now find themselves in a spot of bother near the bottom of the table.

That sets up an early-evening kick-off in north London with plenty riding on it for both.

Tottenham have had a stop-start campaign, with two wins, three draws and three defeats from their eight league games, and their goals-for column reads just eight.

That works out at a single goal a game, and the hosts have failed to score in four of those eight matches. Their home record is the soft spot: one win, one draw and two defeats from four at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, the recent signs are better. They scored five in their last two games, and the defence has kept three clean sheets this term. Spurs have also been firmly on top of the ball, averaging 6.4 corners a game in their recent matches.

Crystal Palace sit 17th on seven points, with a goal difference of minus 10 that tells its own story.

They have lost five of their eight league games and let in 19 goals, the vast majority of them in the second half of the match: seven came between the 46th and 60th minutes alone.

They do have a bit of bite going forward, with a recent-form expected goals average of 1.42, which is higher than Tottenham's 0.92. However, they've managed only 0.8 goals a game on their travels, and have had just 43.5% of the ball in their recent matches.

A win would lift them clear of the bottom three. A defeat and they're looking nervously over their shoulders.

Across their last eight league games Tottenham have won two, drawn three and lost three, while Crystal Palace have won two, drawn one and lost five.

On the surface that favours Spurs, and the direction of travel certainly does, with the hosts having won their last two while Palace have lost their last two without scoring.

However, the surface doesn't tell the full story. Tottenham's recent expected goals figure of 0.92 a game is modest, and Palace's 1.42 suggests they create more than the results show. The problem for the visitors is at the other end, where they've conceded 2.4 goals a game.

Tottenham are 14th on nine points from eight games, three clear of 18th-placed Nottingham Forest and level with 13th-placed Bournemouth. Crystal Palace are 17th on seven points from the same number of games, just one point above the relegation places.

It's a tight and cluttered middle of the table, with 10 points good enough for 10th to 12th and Brentford, Leeds and Newcastle all on 11.

A home win would take Spurs to 12 points and send them above that pack, while a defeat would drag them to within touching distance of the bottom three. For Palace, a win would be a real shot in the arm, but another loss and they could be in the drop zone by teatime.

The last 10 meetings between the sides have produced six Tottenham wins, four Palace wins and no draws, at an average of 2.6 goals a game. Over 2.5 goals landed in six of the 10 (60%), while both teams scored in only three (30%).

The most recent meeting went to Palace, who won 3-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 5 March 2026, and they won 2-0 there in May 2025 as well.

There's a pattern in there. Spurs have a decent overall edge, but Palace have been the more convincing side on this ground lately, and the games have rarely been shootouts, with the BTTS rate sitting at just 30%.

This season's numbers push the other way, though. Palace have conceded in seven of their eight league games, so the BTTS and goals lines look closer to a coin flip than the history suggests. A narrow home win is the most likely shape of the afternoon.

The biggest gap is at the back. Tottenham have conceded 1.25 goals a game in their recent matches, Palace 2.38, and the visitors' defence has been breached in 36.8% of cases in the 46-60 minute window, so Spurs should fancy a fast start after the break.

Then there's the ball. Spurs have averaged 61.1% possession against 43.5% for Palace, and 6.4 corners a game against 3.4.

If the hosts dominate territory, set pieces could be a decent route in. Palace's counter-punch is the other side of it, with their expected goals figure higher than Tottenham's, so the hosts can't be careless.

Kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is at 5.30pm GMT on Saturday 31 October 2026 (the clocks went back last weekend, so it's no longer BST).

A UK broadcaster has not been confirmed yet for this fixture, and this page will be updated closer to kick-off. It is an evening kick-off rather than the 3pm slot, so the Saturday blackout does not apply.

The strongest angle here is the Palace defence. They've let in 2.4 goals a game, conceded in seven of eight league matches, and face a Tottenham side that has scored five in its last two. The home win is the headline, but the goals markets are where it gets interesting, as Palace score just enough to keep the both-teams-to-score line alive.