Following nearly two years away from White Hart Lane, and after a number of construction delays, Tottenham Hotspur will officially move into their new stadium on Wednesday when they play host to Crystal Palace.
The Lilywhites will hope that a new ground can help to revive their season, as they head into this midweek clash badly out of form and in desperate need of a victory.
Tottenham Hotspur
© Reuters
Tottenham may have deserved to take something out of Sunday's huge clash with Liverpool, but they were undone by a Toby Alderweireld own goal right at the end to make it five matches without a win in the Premier League.
Just one point has been collected from the last 15 on offer - a rather fortunate 1-1 home draw against Arsenal - and Spurs are now at serious risk of dropping out of the top four entirely.
That would be a pretty disastrous outcome for the club ahead of this new era, having been tipped as outside title challengers as recently as seven weeks ago when beating Leicester City 3-1 to move to within five points of top spot.
Those title hopes have long since faded. Instead, with seven games of their league campaign to go, Mauricio Pochettino's men are very much locked in a four-team battle for the two remaining Champions League qualification spots.
Their poor run of form has allowed Manchester United to draw level on points with them, while Chelsea and Arsenal are a point worse off, and the latter will play their game in hand against Newcastle United on Monday evening.
Momentum is definitely not on Tottenham's side, then, and their results in London derbies have also taken a turn for the worse. After a run of seven consecutive league wins against their capital rivals, Spurs have won just one of their last four such matches, losing half of those.
It could well turn out, however, that a change of stadium brings a change of fortunes. In the same way that Tottenham thrived at White Hart Lane, winning their last 14 games there and going 19 matches without a defeat, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium may become a fortress.
For that to be the case they need to hit the ground running on Wednesday, with Manchester City the next visitors there in the quarter-finals of the Champions League next week. With Tottenham still battling on two fronts, Pochettino needs to snap his players out of their slump or else a campaign that offered so much promise could easily end in disaster.
Recent form in Premier League: WLLDLL
Recent form (all competitions): LLDWLL
Crystal Palace
© Reuters
Palace saw off Tottenham in the last 16 of the FA Cup earlier this month, only for back-to-back defeats in the league and cup - including a 2-1 reverse to Watford in the quarters - to derail their season somewhat.
Rather than having a trip to Wembley to look forward to at the end of the week, the Eagles are now jostling for position in the bottom half of the division.
Saturday's 2-0 win over basement boys Huddersfield Town, which they made hard work of at times, does at least all but ensure that they will be playing Premier League football again next season.
The gap on the bottom three stands at eight points, meaning that one win should get them safely over the line. However, Roy Hodgson's men still have Spurs, Man City and Arsenal to face, so there could be one or two nervy moments yet.
If Palace do avoid the drop, it will largely be thanks to their away form. The South London side have collected 20 points on their travels compared to 16 at home - the seventh and 17th best returns in the Premier League respectively.
In fact, the Eagles have defeated Leicester and Burnley in their last two away outings and are now going in search of their third consecutive away league win for the first time since August 2015. Doing that in the first competitive match to be staged at Tottenham's new ground would make the achievement even more special.
Palace's only away London derby win this season was at Fulham on the opening weekend, though - the last top-flight campaign that saw them win two away London derbies was 1997-98 (vs. Wimbledon and Spurs).
Playing away from Selhurst Park certainly seems to suit Hodgson's men and, motivated by being the first visiting side to play at Tottenham's 62,000-capacity ground, this is a match from which they could well take a point.
Recent form in Premier League: DWLWLW
Recent form (all competitions): WLWLLW
Team News
© Reuters
Tottenham are without Eric Dier and Harry Winks in the engine room, which forced Pochettino to go with an attack-minded XI against Liverpool.
Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Moussa Sissoko started together and, in the absence of any other real options - Victor Wanyama aside - Pochettino may have to go with the same trio again here.
There could be recalls for Ben Davies and Son Heung-min, however, having both come off the bench at Anfield, while Serge Aurier should recover from injury to rival Kieran Trippier for a start at right-back.
Up top, Harry Kane has scored 59 home goals for Tottenham in the Premier League - only Jermain Defoe (60) has scored more in home games for the club.
Palace's only injury concern is Mamadou Sakho, meanwhile, so Hodgson could well go with the same XI that beat Huddersfield at the weekend.
James McArthur was brought on for Max Meyer at half time in that most recent outing, though, and he will be hoping for a 30th league start of the season here.
Wilfried Zaha has scored in each of his last three away Premier League games, managing four goals in total - no player has ever scored in four consecutive Premier League away appearances for the Eagles.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Trippier, Sissoko, Eriksen, Davies; Alli; Kane, Son
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Dann, Van Aanholt; McArthur, Milivojevic, Schlupp; Townsend, Batshuayi, Zaha
Head To Head
Tottenham have won their last seven Premier League meetings against Palace, six of them by a 1-0 scoreline - against no side have they won more conclusively in the competition.
The Eagles are winless in their last six away league meetings with Spurs, failing to score in each of the last five. Their most recent away win in this fixture was in November 1997.
Tottenham's run of five successive 1-0 victories over Palace is the longest streak of consecutive identical results between two sides in Premier League history.
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Crystal Palace
Palace's only focus over the remaining six weeks of the season is to secure Premier League safety and then push for a top-half finish. Spurs, meanwhile, have to hold off the chasing pack to finish fourth in the top flight, and there is also the small matter of their Champions League quarter-final against Man City on the horizon. The Eagles have what it takes to come away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a draw, but recent history suggests that Spurs will take all three points by a 1-0 scoreline.
No Data Analysis info
