Odsonne Edouard scores twice on dream debut as Crystal Palace trounce jaded Spurs

• New signing comes off bench to score twice in last five minutes

• Wilfried Zaha opens the scoring from the spot

• Japhet Tanganga sent off for two bookable offences

The Patrick Vieira revolution has begun. Having undergone arguably the biggest transformation of any Premier League club this summer, Crystal Palace fans had been placated with repeated talk of “taking the positives” from Vieira’s first three games, which had failed to yield a victory.

They would find it difficult to feel anything but unbridled positivity after this first rampant win against unlikely league leaders Tottenham Hotspur who had yet to concede a goal.

It was as close to perfection as Vieira could ever have envisaged, with talisman Wilfried Zaha scoring from the penalty spot and Odsonne Edouard completing a dream debut as a late substitute with two goals at the death.

That Japhet Tanganga was sent off when the match was goalless with half an hour to play sealed the visitors’ fate, but not even the most blinkered of Spurs fans would claim their side deserved anything from the match.

Before this match, no Premier League team had managed fewer shots than Palace’s 20; that they had 18 here spoke volumes.

“I thought it was a really good team performance,” said Vieira. “Lately, we played some really good football but couldn’t win games. We wanted the win because it would give us confidence – that was the most important thing. There is more to come from this team.”

In slight mitigation for Nuno Espirito Santo, the Tottenham manager did not have it easy. Given the multiple absences he was forced to contend with – Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn were both injured, while Davinson Sanchez, Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero were in Covid quarantine in Croatia after accepting international call-ups without the club’s permission – the last thing he wanted was to lose another key man.

Alas, Eric Dier’s match lasted barely a dozen minutes after he overstretched and was clattered. With Sanchez missing, it meant a first centre-back pairing for Tanganga and substitute Joe Rodon, with debutant Emerson Royal to their right. The £26 million signing from Barcelona was given the toughest task of anyone on the pitch – forced to contend with the ever-lively Zaha. With a nimbleness and trickery that continues to prompt wonder over why he is still plying his trade at Selhurst Park, Zaha haunted the Brazilian, at one point putting Royal on his backside when coming close to providing what would have been a deadlock-breaking assist for Conor Gallagher, whose shot from four yards was bundled behind – a rare moment of excitement in a drab opening period.

Then came the moment that saw the match burst into life. Seven minutes into the second half, Tanganga rugby-tackled Zaha to halt a developing Palace attack. A furious Zaha was fortunate to stay on the pitch after reacting by thrusting his hands into Tanganga’s face, prompting a 19-man melee that yielded yellow cards for the two protagonists. It proved the beginning of the end for Tanganga.

Less than five minutes later the Spurs defender gave the ball away and flew in rashly on Jordan Ayew. A second yellow sealed his fate.

With the Selhurst Park crowd now in full voice, the onslaught began and when Gallagher’s cross struck the outstretched arm of substitute Ben Davies, the linesman flagged for a penalty and Zaha sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way.

Edouard was sent on for his Palace debut with six minutes remaining and his impact was instant. Zaha again found space down the left and pulled it back to the Frenchman, who controlled the ball with his first touch for his new club and then drove the ball low into the corner with his second.

An exhausted Spurs then left Edouard totally unmarked and he slashed home his second in injury time.

Tottenham had managed just two shots – their lowest in a Premier League match since 2005 – and Harry Kane did not touch the ball in the opponent’s box.

“A very difficult afternoon,” said Nuno. “We had a lot of obstacles during the game to overcome. It was not easy for the boys today. At half-time we spoke and the perspective was to improve in the second half, but it didn’t happen. A lot of situations we have to look at.”

Crystal Palace 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0: As it happened...

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01:33 PM

That was an impressive statement of intent

For Patrick Vieira and his new Palace side. The Hodgson era of pragmatism, grind and knowing your place is well and truly over.

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01:23 PM

Full time: Palace 3 Spurs 0

Another superb left-foot finish after taking a touch, bursting through Lloris's hands. Excellent, sweeping move to switch to the right, Olise raced inside, fed Gallagher who turned it on with a cute pass to Edouard to the left of the penalty spot and though his first touch wasn't ideal, his second was thumping.

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01:21 PM

GOAL!!!

Palace 3 Spurs 0 (Edouard)

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01:21 PM

90+1 min: Palace 2 Spurs 0

Jermaine Jenas gives Wilfred Zaha the man of the match award. Can be few complaints from anyone bar Gallagher but his shooting was so rubbish he probably would defer to Zaha.

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01:18 PM

89 min: Palace 2 Spurs 0

Seems to me a very passive contribution from Nuno during the match itself. Has done little tactically or in terms of substitutions to shake this up at all.

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01:16 PM

87 min: Palace 2 Spurs 0

Palace make their third substitution: Olise replaces Ayew.

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01:15 PM

86 min: Palace 2 Spurs 0

Took him less than a minute. Edouard wins a header with Rodon on halfway, Zaha takes it down the left and the sub gets on his bike to race to the penalty spot. Zaha has Emerson on toast and pulls a cross back to Edouard who takes a touch then pokes a left-foot shot inside the right post from 12 yards.

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01:13 PM

GOAL!!!!

Palace 2 Spurs 0 (Edouard)

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01:13 PM

84 min: Palace 1 Spurs 0

Here comes Odsonne Edouard to replace Benteke and he enters to a rapturous reception from Megaphone Mick and his fellow fanatics.

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01:12 PM

82 min: Palace 1 Spurs 0

Lucas Moura is booked for a bit of retaliation after a foul on him goes unpunished by Jon Moss.

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01:10 PM

80 min: Palace 1 Spurs 0

Rare Tottenham corner is comfortably defended by Palace and they race off upfield on the counter, a break that ends with Gallagher blazing a shot into the crowd.

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01:07 PM

78 min: Palace 1 Spurs 0

Palace fans have their shirts off to celebrate the goal and taking a deserved lead against a lacklustre and frankly poor Spurs side. It was a definite penalty, his left arm was stuck out at 90 degrees to his body as he jumped to block.

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01:05 PM

76 min: Palace 1 Spurs 0

Waits for Lloris to commit and dive to his right and rolls it into the other side of the goal.

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01:04 PM

GOAL!!!

Palace 1-0 Tottenham (Zaha, pen)

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01:03 PM

Palace penalty!

Gallagher's cross blocked by Davies's hand stuck out to his left.

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01:03 PM

74 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Rodon to the rescue again to block Zaha's shot after cutting in from the left on to his right. Palace work it back down the left, Mitchell sends over a dipping cross that catches Lloris out as it dips to creep in at the far post but Reguilon reads the danger and heads it upwards and off the line.

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01:01 PM

72 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Good strength from Rodon to resist Benteke's attempt to roll him on the edge of the area. He was strong enough to resist and make Benteke bounce off him instead of t'other way round.

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12:59 PM

70 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Kane chases a long ball down the left but can't catch it before it skips out for a goal-kick.

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12:57 PM

68 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Palace sub: Milivojevic replaces Kouyate. Not swapping belt for braces, according to Jermane Jenas who celebrates the Palace club captain's unsung creative qualities. And give Gallagher hasn't done anything with a dozen set-pieces, he might be the man.

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12:56 PM

66 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Terrific block from Dele after Zaha skips down the left to work the ball t the right of the D for Ayew to set himself up for a half-volley. Dele leaps across to block with his raised right leg.

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12:54 PM

64 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Spurs concede their umpteenth free-kick around the box, this time for a Dele foul. Gallagher whips it in for the right and Kane boots it back upfield on the volley.

Guehi bundles over Lucas Moura but Jon Moss, not within 30 yards, doesn't deem it a foul.

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12:53 PM

63 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Davies has dropped in at centre-back in a four rather than in a three with Hojbjerg slipping back, too.

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12:49 PM

61 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Ben Davies replaces Winks before the free-kick which Gallagher chips into the box and Ayew wins the second ball from the header, slicing a volley from 12 yards wide of the right post.

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12:48 PM

60 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Tanganga departs with a second yellow card after lunging in on Ayew, catching him only slightly but judged to be reckless by the referee, which it probably was.

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12:47 PM

59 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Corner for Palace, taken short. Gallagher rolls it to Zaha who taps it to Mitchell at the edge of the box to whip in. Moss is in his way but he still manages to centre it. Spurs scramble it away to Kouyate who hooks a half-volley over the bar.

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12:45 PM

57 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Another good header from Tanganga when Palace stick it in the mixer for Benteke. Zaha is in his ear again.

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12:44 PM

56 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Gallagher takes the free-kick, 20 yards out, parallel with the left extremity of the box. He whips in an inswinger and bends it past the runners and back post. It's all Palace.

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12:43 PM

54 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Scrap! Between Tanganga and Zaha after the Spurs defender flies into the Palace winger, annoyed that a foul wasn't given by Moss on Lucas Moura. He books both, Tanganga for the foul and Zaha for his reaction after being pushed in the chest, raising his hands. Tanganga's card could easily have been red.

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12:41 PM

52 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Rodon does it again when Zaha whips a cross-shot in from the left that Benteke controls and sets up a bicycle kick but before he can wrap his leg around to shoot Gallagher nips in to hammer a more orthodox volley with Benteke left high and dry into Rodon's hip and out for a corner.

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12:39 PM

51 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Rodon stops Gallagher's progress down the Palace right at the cost of a corner.

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12:38 PM

49 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Now it's Tottenham's turn to try the long diagonal, Skipp arrowing it down the right for Emerson. Mitchell wins the tackle but Lucas wins the ball back 20 yards from goal, scoots inside, a fog of movement and scurrying feet, beats two but then bends a left-foot shot from 22 yards straight into Guaita's sternum.

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12:36 PM

47 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Tanganga has the better of Benteke again in the air when battling for a long ball up the middle from Palace.

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12:35 PM

46 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Palace knock the long diagonal up the left to Zaha's feet who traps it first time but Emerson nips in to use his shins as a rebounder to earn a throw.

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12:34 PM

Players are out again

No changes.

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12:20 PM

Half-time Palace 0 Spurs 0

The league leaders were second best for the last half hour. They are defending courageously but they lack spark, any influence from Kane and only Lucas Moura looks capable of breaking the lines. Zaha and Gallagher hold the key for Palace. I would suggest Vieira put Clyne and Edouard on soonish, the former to feed Gallagher and Ayew with early ball, Edouard because he would make bolder runs into the box than Benteke.

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12:17 PM

45 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Jermaine Jenas thinks Nuno needs to make changes at half-time, abandon the diamond and take Skipp off, who, he charitably says, is not fit. Don't know about that. Certainly not at the races.

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12:16 PM

44 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Big chance for Palace when Zaha beats Emerson out on the Palace left, turns him inside out, skips up the byline and centres a low cross to the near post for Gallagher. He tries to stab a shot from six-yards but Reguilon bravely slides in to block and Gallagher's effort from the close-range rebound is turned round the post by Lloris.

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12:14 PM

43 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Spurs' midfield, Winks and Skipp in particular, is all over the shop.

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12:13 PM

41 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Gallagher blazes a right-foot shot over the bar from 25 yards when Skipp is guilty of dereliction of duty and gives him plenty of space. Terrible effort.

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12:10 PM

39 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Tanganga wins a crucial header after Reguilon's impetuosity out on the Spurs left, sliding in to win a ball but missing, allows Ayew to whip a cross towards the back stick for Benteke. The Belgium centre-forward should have won it. He's still fairly effective at times but a shadow of the player he used to be.

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12:09 PM

37 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Lloris defends the first corner well at the cost of another and then earns a soft free-kick when he claws away the second as it was actually Tanganga who slammed into him, not a Palace player.

Palace the better team so far.

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12:07 PM

35 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Kane wants a foul for a a tame collision with Andersen from behind but isn't getting one even if he plays the England captain card. Palace race away from an indignant Kane, Zaha cuts into the centre from the left but scuffs a shot that takes a deflection as well and dribbles out for a corner.

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12:06 PM

33 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Ayew's cross from the right is blocked when Gallagher makes a clever pass with his back to goal and when they work it back to the left, Zaha's cross whistles back across the box, too far ahead of the tentative Benteke who should have been darting towards the six-yard box but wasn't.

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12:04 PM

31 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Gallagher is ill-served by Ward again hanging on to the ball too long. Clyne isn't so plodding, is he? By the time the ball is played up the right, Spurs have regrouped and have six men back in the box.

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12:01 PM

28 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Dele knocks Kouyate down and Palace have a free-kick. Moss seems to signal that he was totting up the Alli fouls before giving him a yellow card but as far as I can see, doesn't, in the end, take the card out of his pocket. From the free-kick Palace shift it to Ayew down the right but he fouls Hojbjerg after his control isn't good enough.

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11:58 AM

26 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Poor crossfield from right to left by Winks. Reguilon did make the run up the flank but Winks' pass was floaty and short.

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11:56 AM

24 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

It's too scrappy so far and both sides' full-backs are guilty of not playing the early ball. Zaha loses his balance when Skipp leans into him as he runs down the left. Looked like a foul but the referee, your friend (not mine) Jon Moss, doesn't give it and Wilf tumbles and knocks the ball out for a goal-kick before turning to Moss to deposit a flea in his ear.

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11:53 AM

22 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Foul by Dele 23 yards out, bringing down Zaha with a lunge. Right of centre. Gallagher takes it and it's awful, getting the angle but not the dip and the ball sails a good 5ft over the bar.

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11:52 AM

20 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

The Spurs free-kick comes to nothing as they go too narrow and let Palace's midfield hustle them off the ball and play it up to Benteke.

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11:51 AM

18 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Both McCarthur and Kouyate have a nibble at Lucas Moura who bamboozles them with more footwork down the inside right, spinning the former with a Cruyff turn then attempting to use his snake hips to shimmy past the latter but Kouyate boots him on the ankle to halt his progress.

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11:49 AM

16 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Moura hassles McCarthur on the ball, winning possession but McCarthur is nothing if not tenacious and he snaps back in by the touchline to make sure he can't make any headway upfield.

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11:47 AM

14 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

When Dier hit the ground for a second time McCarthur had the opportunity to exploit their numerical advantage but instead didn't whip the ball into the box. Don't know if that was good manners or simply bad football.

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11:43 AM

12 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Dier can't continue and Joe Rodon comes on in his place.

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11:42 AM

11 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Gallagher horses up a first touch and slide sin to rectify his mistake, but only toes it to Lucas Moura cutting in from the right. he slips it top the edge of the D where Hojbjerg wastes the opportunity with another clumsy first touch instead of putting his laces through a first-time shot.

Dier hits the decks again.

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11:40 AM

9 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Dier's ankle seems to be the problem but he gets up and carries on, limping for the moment after winning a header from Ward's long chip.

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11:39 AM

7 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Zaha whips in a cross from the byline but bends it straight into Lloris' chest. Dier is injured when he tries to gather Lloris's wild throw and is hit by Ayew as they both lunged for the loose ball.

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11:38 AM

7 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Winks can't beat the first sentry at the corner and Ward heads it clear. Spurs have a diamond in midfield with Hojbjerg at the base, Skipp left and Winks right, Dele behind Kane and Lucas pretty free.

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11:37 AM

5 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Spurs switch it back to the right, Emerson takes it to the byline and Guehi blocks the cross. Spurs corner.

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11:36 AM

3 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Zaha takes on Emerson, tries to cut inside and the Spurs' right-back trips him around halfway. Palace work it back from the free-kick and then build again up the left with Mitchell taking on Emerson who tackles him and forces the ball into touch. Lucas Moura gets his foot in to pick off the Palace throwm uses dazzling footwork right by the whitewash then hares off upfield in a slalom dribble before working the ball up the left.

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11:33 AM

2 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

Emerson and McCarthur come together on halfway, the Palace captain using his bulk and momentum to knock the new signing off his feet. Free-kick.

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11:32 AM

1 min: Palace 0 Spurs 0

After a respectfully observed minute's silence Selhurst breaks into its usual raucous song, the players take the knee and Spurs kick off, attacking the Holmesdale End and move it back and then up the left for Reguilon to chase but Ward beats him to it and knocks it long up the right.

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11:31 AM

The players observe a moment of silence

On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, for those killed in the attacks.

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11:26 AM

Here come the teams

You say that you love me (Say you love me)
All of the time (All of the time)

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11:25 AM

Is there any point to pre-match interviews with managers?

The opposite of what they actually say would always be far more newsworthy than the platitudes - going to be a a tough match, they will try hard, their respect for the opposition is unrivalled - and Messrs Vieira and Nuno are no different. So why do they still bother? If these quotes are not telling us anything, why does journalistic convention persist with reporting the guff they keep trotting out?

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10:43 AM

And now for those of you watching in black and white ...

Crystal Palace Guaita; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Gallagher, Kouyate, McArthur; Zaha, Benteke, Ayew.
Substitutes Butland, Tomkins, Olise, Hughes, Clyne, Milivojevic, Kelly, Riedewald, Edouard.

Tottenham Hotspur Lloris; Emerson, Tanganga, Dier, Reguilon; Hojbjerg, Skipp, Winks; Lucas Moura, Kane, Alli.
Substitutes Gollini, Doherty, Rodon, Davies, Ndombele, Markanday, Omole, Gil, Scarlett.

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10:33 AM

Three changes for Spurs

Emerson Royal starts:

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10:32 AM

Edouard starts on the bench for Palace

COME ON YOU PALACE#CPFC | #CRYTOT

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 11, 2021

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10:23 AM

Good morning

And welcome to coverage of the Premier League match from Selhurst Park between 14th-placed Palace and league leaders, Spurs. Patrick Vieira's new team looked very impressive against West Ham at the London Stadium, particularly in the second half, and another astute signing, Odsonne Edouard from Celticm who scored 66 SPL goals in 116 appearances, should give them the spearhead they have so badly needed since Christian Benteke lost the prolific edge that had made his fortune at Aston Villa.

Spurs also made a deadline day signing - Emerson from Barcelona but so impressive has Japhet Tanganga been at right-back that he will have to wait awhile, if all is fair in this world, to make his debut, at least in his preferred position. Tottenham are without Giovanni Lo Celso, Cristian Romero and Davinson Sanchez after they defied the club's wishes to join up with Argentina and Colombia respectively and Son Heung-min is out, or so Nuno said on Thursday, after hurting his calf on international duty. Steven Bergwijn, Oliver Skipp and Tanguy Ndombele are all doubts, too.

Palace have lost Jeff Schlupp to a thigh strain and Eberechi Eze and Natahn Fergsuon still have a long way back from their serious injuries.

Given his Arsenal background, small wonder that old rivalries with Tottenham were the focus of the pack's questioning at his pre-match presser.

"No, no, no, no. I am not a player anymore so this kind of rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham is in the past," he said. "The fact I used to play for Arsenal against Tottenham, it is not important for me and will not be important tomorrow.

"It is an important game. We play at home and we want to do well, want to win and take the three points."

Three consecutive 1-0 wins has put Tottenham at the top of the Premier League summit and Vieira praised the job of his opposite number, Nuno Espirito Sancho.

"He is doing fantastically well. When you start in a new club, you win the first three games and didn't concede a goal, it is difficult to do better than that. It will be a really good challenge for us. We went to West Ham, a difficult place, and played with a lot of personality. Now the challenge will be the same.

"We are playing the team that are top at the moment, who are playing well. I am really looking forward to it and we are ready to give them a good game."

Thank goodness for that ...

Join us for the team news at 11.30am