Alex Howell
Football reporter at Selhurst Park

Destiny Udogie has not recovered in time for the trip to Selhurst for Tottenham. He was really effective for Spurs against Fulham before he was withdrawn in the 56th minute. Ben Davies comes in but Udogie has been excellent for Ange Postecoglou so far this season.

This will be Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson’s 500th game in charge of English clubs in all competitions.

He lost his 100th and 200th milestone games (with the latter coming against Tottenham), while he won his 300th and 400th such games in charge.

Hodgson has won just one of his 20 Premier League games against Spurs (D6 L13), beating them 2-1 with Fulham in November 2008. His 5% win rate against Spurs is his lowest against any side he's faced at least five times in the competition, while only against Chelsea (15) has he lost more such games (13).

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Crystal Palace make one change as Jeffrey Schlupp returns from a thigh injury to take his place in the side.

Jean-Philippe Mateta drops to the bench.

Crystal Palace XI: Johnstone, Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Doucoure, Hughes, Ayew, Edouard, Schlupp.

Subs: Holding, Matheus Franca, Mateta, Clyne, Richards, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi.

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Yves Bissouma returns from suspension and is straight into the Tottenham side as one of two changes.

Ben Davies also comes in for Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Davies, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Maddison, Richarlison, Son.

Subs: Skipp, Hojbjerg, Gil Salvatierra, Emerson, Dier, Lo Celso, Forster, Johnson, Bentancur.

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I'm going to potentially provoke an outcry here... but I don't think Spurs will end up winning the league this season.

Other opinions will exist and who am I to chuck any kind of cold water on the fire burning away amongst the Tottenham support. I just think they might lack the staying power, especially if they get an injury or two to key players.

I imagine, though, that most Spurs fans are just enjoying the ride right now. A top-four finish would be superb progress and something on which to build.

But feel free to tell I'm wrong. Get in touch with us and state why Spurs can win the league. Or offer a take on what you'd be happy with this season?

We're at #bbcfootball on X and on 81111 via text (UK only and standard message rates apply).

Drink it in Tottenham fans!

Below is the top of the Premier League table as it currently stands, with Ange Postecoglou's Spurs sat at the very top...

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As you know, because you're reading this page right now, we're going to be live text commentating on the Palace v Spurs game.

However, there's no radio commentary for this because their are other sporting events taking over the airwaves.

On BBC Radio 5 Live tonight there's England v Argentina in the World Cup third-place play-off, while on Sports Extra it's England v Belgium in the Women's Nations League.

The latter of these is also getting the live text commentary treatment, which you can follow here.

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Tonight, Spurs are at Crystal Palace. Is it just me or do these Friday night games always seem to feature Palace?

They've had the very epitome of an inconsistent season so far. Three wins, three draws and three losses from their nine games and they've not had two the same on the trot.

They come into this sat quite comfortably in midtable, but with a bit of a point to prove after taking a pasting from Newcastle last time out.

What better way to do that than taking down the league leaders, who just happen to be a London rival?

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I think before a ball had been kicked most Tottenham fans would have settled for their side being competitive and playing with a bit of fun this season.

A pretty dire 2022-23 was followed by the loss of their talismanic record goalscorer and murmurs of doom and gloom. Not even the appointment of Ange Postecoglou could lift spirits too high.

Look at them now, though!

Nine league games played, seven of them won, with zero defeats. They're playing with drive, determination and swagger.

A win tonight in their 10th game takes them five points clear at the top. Never let it be said that football isn't a funny old game.