The Daly Brief | Spurs vs Crystal Palace, Premier League | OneFootball

"Both Spurs and Crystal Palace are without crucial defenders through suspension tonight, so how will they line up? Meanwhile, has Mathys Tel earned himself a start after impressing at Craven Cottage?"

Rob Daly, official club commentator, presenter and pundit

Who comes into defence for the Eagles?

Maxence Lacroix will miss the game in N17 after his sending off in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester United. The Frenchmen is a huge loss, especially to a team adapting to life without Marc Guehi, now at Manchester City. “We always have to make changes to our back three since Marc left,” explained Head Coach Oliver Glasner. "There is no consistency in the back three." Lacroix is also a miss for his set-piece threat, having scored in his last two games. With Jefferson Lerma out too, Morocco international Chadi Riad, recently back from an ACL injury, could come in to play alongside Chris Richards and Jaydee Canvot.

How will Palace cover for Mateta's absence up front?

A knee injury keeps Jean-Philippe Mateta out for Palace right now, but the club bolstered their attacking options in January. Jørgen Strand Larsen has scored against Spurs for Wolves previously - and the tall, powerful striker already has a couple of Palace goals to his name. The Norwegian is looking to build an understanding with 11-goal forward Ismaïla Sarr, who Oliver Glasner says is having a fantastic season. “Ismaïla is very important for us with the way he's playing, he always gets into finishing positions and scoring goals, and Jørgen is the more physical player in the middle.” Ivory Coast international forward Evan Guessand has already scored in the Premier League and Conference League since joining on loan from Aston Villa, while Brennan Johnson, set for a warm reception tonight, is looking for his first Palace goal.

Has Mathys Tel earned a start?

Coming up to the hour mark at Craven Cottage, at 2-0 down, Igor Tudor made a triple change that invigorated Spurs. Richarlison scored the equaliser, Pape Matar Sarr added energy, while Mathys Tel really caught the eye. The Frenchman hung out to the left side of Spurs’ attack, demanded to get on the ball and drove at Fulham’s defence with purpose. Archie Gray may have got the assist for the goal back, supplying a superb cross for Spurs’ number nine, but Tel’s direct running up-field and into the box really made it happen. His fight and character, along with work on the ball, may get him into the XI.

Will Danso and Richarlison come in tonight?

Djed Spence’s calf issue kept him out on Sunday, but left-back Souza also had an enterprising cameo at Craven Cottage, seen bolting up the pitch to join attacks, get to the byline, and find a team-mate. Radu Dragusin has now started the last three league games, and given he’s only recently back from his ACL, you wonder if Kevin Danso will partner Micky van de Ven in defence having returned from a toe ligament injury. Danso was arguably Spurs’ outstanding player in the late-December win at Selhurst Park, and Tudor is happy to have him and other big characters back like Pedro Porro and Richarlison. “Of course they give something and of course we need that, Pedro also, when Kevin comes inside, personality and quality, so it changes… this is the key also to have the players who can give this to the team.” While a 4-4-2 formation was used at Fulham, the Head Coach insisted Spurs’ run of form right now is, 'not about system. System is not important at this moment', highlighting the need for fight and confidence.