Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur

Selhurst Park is the venue as underperforming Crystal Palace meet pacesetters Tottenham Hotspur in an all-London Premier League match-up.

Describing Patrick Vieira’s early managerial career at Crystal Palace as a disappointment would be an understatement. Winless after his first three Premier League matches in charge of Palace (D2, L1), Vieira has seen his side produce fewer overall shots (20) and fewer attempts on target (5) than any other side in England’s top-flight this season. On the bright side, though, after drawing a blank against Chelsea and newly-promoted Brentford on the first two weekends of the season, the ‘Eagles’ held high-flying West Ham to 2-2 draw at the London Stadium last time out. Desperate to get off the mark, the hosts need to defy their 12-game winless league streak in H2Hs to upset the odds (D2, L10). Regardless of the outcome, Palace are set to make history here, as no other team have ever opened a new top-flight side with four consecutive London derbies.

Unlike his Palace counterpart, Nuno Espirito Santo has taken the Premier League by storm since taking charge of Tottenham in the summer. His side headed into the international window as the only team in England’s top tier to have won all three inaugural fixtures, all of which came by the identical 1-0 scoreline. After outscoring reigning titleholders Manchester City in the curtain-raiser, Espirito Santo went on to upset his former employers Wolverhampton and promoted Watford. After setting a new club record by winning their opening three league matches ‘to nil,’ Tottenham could join a distinguished group of four clubs to start a new top-flight season with four consecutive victories without conceding. But Spurs’ paltry scoring return early in the season could pose a problem here, especially considering they’ve netted precisely once per game in their last five Premier League trips to Selhurst Park.