“I don’t mean it horribly” – Spurs fans will be fuming with pundit’s Crystal Palace prediction

Paul Merson has given his prediction for this weekend’s Crystal Palace v Tottenham and it’s not good reading for Spurs fans.

   Spurs squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 away to Brighton in their last game before the international break in October.

   However, the Lilywhites bounced back brilliantly from that setback to beat West Ham United 4-1 last weekend before beating AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.

   Another London derby is on the agenda this weekend as Spurs travel to Selhurst Park on Sunday.

   Should results pan out, victory over the Eagles could lift Spurs up to fifth in the table and close to a Champions League place.

   Paul Merson believes the ‘Spursy’ curse will strike again

   Unfortunately for Spurs fans, Merson doesn’t believe they can pull off another win this Sunday.

   The former Arsenal striker pointed to the “Spursy” manner in which they threw away Brighton’s result as the reason why the Lilywhites will only take a 2-2 draw back to north London.

   “I have a feeling that Crystal Palace will be tough against Tottenham this weekend, but I’m fully aware that it also depends on what line-up Tottenham put into the game,” Merson wrote in his Sportskeeda column.

   “I don’t think it’s terrible, but sometimes they get a little ‘chubby’.”  That’s their problem right now.

   “I saw the first half of Spurs against Brighton and I thought, ‘wow, we could actually give teams a real chance in the race for the top four’. We all know what happened after that. On their day, Tottenham are a really good team. They should  show it more often consistently.

   “Palace are a difficult team to deal with away from home. Oliver Glasner must join Eddie Nketiah and Jean-Philippe Mateta together up top and try to win this game. Mateta is a bigger unit and can cause problems for most teams, he is the  a handful and to be honest I’d even play him before Nketiah.

   “It’s a tough game for Spurs and I think they’ll share the spoils in a good, entertaining contest.”