Here we go! Tottenham Hotspur open White Hart Lane — well, most of it, anyway — to home fans for the first time this season today as they welcome Alan Pardew, Andros Townsend, and Crystal Palace to North London.
Townsend is a Tottenham boy through and through, a product of the youth academy, and one of the first academy players to break through into the first team since Ledley King. For this reason he is still beloved by large swaths of the Tottenham fan base. But he was never in Pochettino’s plans, and after a brief stint in Newcastle he’s landed back in London with Palace. With the Eagles hurt and Christian Benteke yet to join the side, Townsend is The Man™ for Alan Pardew’s side, and he’ll need to be if they want to get a result at the Lane today.
Spurs are coming off of a hard-fought draw against Everton at Goodison Park last Saturday, one in which they didn’t look their best for the majority of the match. They fixed that issue by bringing in Vincent Janssen to play alongside Harry Kane in a 4-4-2 diamond. But Palace is unlikely to provide the same sort of stiff tactical test that Everton did. Will we see the same lineup as last week, or will Poche mix things up? We’ll find out.
COYS!
Lineups
#THFC team: Vorm, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose; Dier, Wanyama, Lamela, Eriksen; Janssen, Kane (c) #COYS pic.twitter.com/nUX64uL6UJ
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 20, 2016
Subs: McGee, Carter-Vickers, Davies, Alli, Carroll, Mason, Onomah #COYS
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 20, 2016
The #CPFC team for this afternoon's game against @SpursOfficial. #TOTCRY pic.twitter.com/plEWYp1Wg4
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 20, 2016
How to Watch
Date/time: Saturday, August 20, 2016, 3:00 p.m. (UK), 10:00 a.m. ET (USA)
Venue: White Hart Lane, North London, UK
Official: Michael Oliver
TV: NBC Sports Extra Time (the “extra channels”) (USA), not televised (UK), TSN5 (Canada), Optus Sport (Australia), other listings at livesoccertv.com
Streaming: NBC Sports Live Extra (USA)
Radio: Audio streamed at tottenhamhotspur.com, also often at BBC Radio London, BBC Radio 5 Live, and TalkSport
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