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- Glasner insists Spurs clash is 'business as usual' ahead of looming FA Cup final
Glasner insists Spurs clash is 'business as usual' ahead of looming FA Cup final
Crystal Palace and Tottenham both have cup finals to look forward to as they meet in the Premier League on Sunday.
Oliver Glasner insists Crystal Palace’s Premier League match against Tottenham is “business as usual” ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Palace sit 12th in the table, four points ahead of Everton and five behind Fulham, with all eyes on next week's showdown at Wembley.
Glasner’s side are, however, on the verge of matching their record best-ever points tally in the Premier League.
They have picked up 46 points this season, just three short of their competition record of 49, which they hit in 1992-93, 2018-19, and 2023-24.
Notably, 52% of the Eagles’ points in the league this season have come away from home (24/46), with only Ipswich Town (68%), Southampton (55%), and Bournemouth (53%) having a higher ratio.
"It's now about being best prepared, and we want to show the best performance that we can show," said Glasner ahead of facing Spurs.
"It's more or less the same situation for both teams. We have this game and our final on Saturday. [Tottenham] have this game and one more in between and their [Europa League final].
"I always believe at the end of the season you get what you deserve. I think we deserve the final now because of our great performances in the FA Cup.
"I think we deserve the position in the league, which is just average for Crystal Palace, in terms of 12th but yes, the amount of points is good.
"We now want to go for the highest amount of points in Crystal Palace history.
"This game is just business as usual for us. We want to play the final. We want to have this positive stress. The better our performance is at Tottenham, the better our confidence will be for the final."
Tottenham, meanwhile, will still be riding high from their Europa League semi-final victory in midweek, with an all-English final against Manchester United to come on May 21.
Spurs played out a tepid 1-1 draw with West Ham last time out in the top flight, leaving them in 16th place.
After their Europa League win over Bodo/Glimt, Ange Postecoglou acknowledged that he will have to rest some players.
"It will be a balancing act. [Cristian] Romero and Micky van de Ven do need to get some game time between now and then [the Europa League final]," he said.
"But that's unlikely [against Palace], because the thing about Thursday night, playing on an artificial pitch takes a lot out of the players. It's fair to say they were sore."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tottenham – Son Heung-min
Tottenham’s Son has scored nine goals in his 16 Premier League appearances against Palace, only scoring more against Southampton (11) in the competition.
In fact, only Sadio Mane (13) and Harry Kane (11) have more goals against the Eagles in the Premier League overall.
Crystal Palace – Eberechi Eze
Eze has been directly involved in five of Palace’s last seven league goals (three goals, two assists), scoring in each of their last two league games.
In his 267-game English league career, Eze is yet to find the net in three successive appearances.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Both sides come into Sunday’s clash on the back of some underwhelming form. Tottenham have won only one of their last nine Premier League games (D2 L6), conceding in each of their last 10 games in the competition (20 in total).
They last endured a longer run without a clean sheet in the league in December 2010 (17 games), though their recent record against Crystal Palace is quite favourable.
Spurs have won each of their last nine Premier League home games against the Eagles. In their top-flight history, they’ve only won 10 in a row against Blackburn (1933 to 1966).
Palace are winless in their last five league games (D3 L2), this after winning four of their previous five beforehand (D1).
The Eagles have drawn each of their last three league games, last drawing four in a row in October 2021 under Patrick Vieira.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Tottenham Hotspur – 36.7%
Draw – 25.3%
Crystal Palace – 38.1%