Spurs on a roll under Conte

Spurs working towards hitting their best form

Last time out, Antonio Conte's men secured a 2-1 win against West Ham, but they were somewhat fortunate to see out the win. A five minute flurry of goals saw Steven Bergwijn open the scoring for the hosts, only for Jarrod Bowen to equalise for the Hammers just a few minutes later. Lucas Moura then immediately after West Ham's equaliser put Spurs back in the ascendency, where they stayed for the rest of the match. At times it wasn't pretty, and if it wasn't for some wasteful finishing from a depleted West Ham outfit, then Spurs could've been dumped out of the Carabao Cup. Wednesday's win shows that Spurs have a bit more backbone to them now. Their lack of ruthlessness however will concern Conte, and allowing the opposition more shots and possession is something he'll be looking to fix, especially on home turf. In the league, Sunday's game against a changed up Liverpool eleven saw an absolute belter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 2-2 was the final score, with VAR controversy once again the centre of attention. Harry Kane was able to find the back of the net for just his second league goal of this campaign, followed up once again by Brazilian Lucas Moura. His impact under Conte has been quite something, and he's often been Tottenham's most creative force this season. Sunday's game will almost feel like a slightly missed opportunity for Spurs to take all three points, against a rotated Liverpool side who were down to ten men for the final knockings of this contest. These recent results show that Spurs are beginning to work under Conte, and they could well make an impressive push towards the top four this campaign. They'll need to win games like Boxing day's match up against Crystal Palace if they are to sustain such form throughout the remainder of the season going into the new year.

Vieira looking to get one over on his old rivals

Manager Patrick Vieira will be determined to get a win over his former fierce rivals in his esteemed time at Arsenal in his playing days. Their 2-2 draw against Southampton last time out was an entertaining affair, with Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew on the scoresheet for the home side. That game was some 11 days ago now, and will need to be back up to speed for this tough away day at Spurs. With Vieira confirming "a couple" of COVID cases in the Palace camp, there's still some jeopardy over whether this game will go ahead. But, assuming the game isn't cancelled, Vieira will be largely leaning on young English star Conor Gallagher to provide Palace with goals on Boxing day. Their defensive solidarity has been the main foundations for their team, with on-loan Gallagher providing the majority of the attacking threat. Thankfully for them, he should have some help in the form of long-serving winger Zaha. His goal last time out ended a five game goal drought for the Ivorian, and he'll be looking to carry on scoring goals after the last time these two sides met. Zaha was embroiled in some on-field controversy with Spurs defender Japhet Tanganga, who got a red card that game, His feisty demeanour at times does boil over, but it's an edge that Palace crave when he's not in the side.

This should be a similarly tasty affair to the reverse fixture at Selhurst Park, where Palace stunned Spurs to win 3-0. But a lot has happened since then. I'm going with Spurs to win with bet365.

Bet Tottenham to win on Bet365