Crystal Palace predicted lineup vs Tottenham - Premier League

Patrick Vieira won all eight of his Boxing Day appearances in the Premier League as a player
Patrick Vieira won all eight of his Boxing Day appearances in the Premier League as a player / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages
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Crystal Palace return to Premier League action with a London derby away to Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day.

Patrick Vieira added to ten victories over Spurs as a player with a triumph in his first managerial meeting with Tottenham at the start of the current campaign. The Arsenal icon scored four Premier League goals against his former north London rivals, all of which came on Tottenham's home turf.

Here's the XI Vieira may select to get one over his familiar foes once again.


Crystal Palace predicted lineup vs Tottenham - Premier League

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Vicente Guaita (GK) - Oddly dropped to the bench for Palace's last game as Jack Butland was afforded a rare start, postponement has punctuated this potential subplot between the sticks.

Joel Ward (RB) - The squad's longest-serving player survived last summer's cull of experienced professionals to add a layer of know-how to Vieira's revolution this term.

Joachim Andersen (CB) - Granted his first Premier League minutes in December during the final knockings of Palace's most recent outing, Andersen may well be restored to the starting XI for the first time in more than a month this weekend.

Marc Guehi (CB) - Eberechi Eze echoed the warm-hearted sentiment of many a Palace fan when he repeatedly accompanied every touch Guehi took with a bellow of 'My Marc!' in a match the midfielder watched, injured, from the stands.

Tyrick Mitchell (LB) - One of only two players to start every Premier League game for Palace, Mitchell's streak isn't set to stop any time soon.

2. Midfielders

Connor Gallagher (CM) - Palace's outright top scorer also applies more pressures off the ball than any other Eagle this term.

Cheikhou Kouyate (CM) - One of seven members of the squad whose contract expires this summer, Kouyate is vying with his skipper Luka Milivojevic for a starting berth to prove his worth.

James McArthur (CM) - Palace only claimed the full three points in one of the six matches their Scottish midfielder missed since the November international break.

3. Forwards

Jordan Ayew (RW) - In four of Ayew's last six Premier League campaigns, the 30-year-old has scored just one top flight goal - already off the mark this term, the Palace number nine has more than half a season to break that pattern.

Odsonne Edouard (ST) - Palace's marquee summer signing has only netted once since bagging a brace in the space of eight second-half minutes against Spurs on his club debut.

Wilfried Zaha (LW) - Even though the crippling weight of Palace's entire attacking threat has been partially shifted off Zaha's shoulders, the fleet-footed 29-year-old is perennially picked when available.


You can read 90min's preview of Tottenham vs Crystal Palace here.
You can read Tottenham's predicted lineup 
here.