Crystal Palace v Tottenham: Premier League – live | Premier League

45 mins: One minute added on.

Romero currently on the deck holding his face to give the impression he’s been punched in the face by Ayew. He was not.

44 mins: Romero decides he needs to show why he is a World Cup winner by playing a quarterback-esque pass over the top. Sadly, it goes nowhere near a teammate and Guaita calmly collects.

42 mins: Ayew is rolling around in his own half after a late tackle from behind, which Skipp is booked for. Skipp is not having his best game currently, I think it is fair to say.

40 mins: Eze latches onto a bouncing ball inside the box but goes down with Skipp in the vicinity. There is a brief claim for a penalty but VAR shakes its big electronic head almost immediately. I think he slipped.

38 mins: Olise’s latest corner comes off Andersen’s back/shoulder and is easily claimed by Lloris.

Down the other end, Son looks to curl a cross into the box from the left but instead he lifts is straight into the stand behind the goal.

36 mins: Eze is pulled back by Skipp but play is waved on and Palace win a corner. Skipp somehow avoids a booking.

Leeds 1-1 West Ham

34 mins: Palace are now on top. Spurs are struggling to get the ball out of their half and the Palace forward four are looking more confident. Olise drives into the box and takes aim for the bottom corner but a Spurs boot deflects the ball wide.

32 mins: Centre-back Andersen is waiting 35 yards out when the ball lands at his feet, he takes a few touches and lets fly, only to see it drift a millimetre or two wide with Lloris diving despairingly.

30 mins: Doherty feels the need to turn a cross behind for a corner. Olise goes over to take it on the right. It gets half cleared three or four times but comes back through a Schlupp cross which Lenglet is there flicks away for another corner.

Our man at Southampton.

28 mins: Good work from Zaha sees him dribble through a couple of Spurs defender before laying the ball into the path of Ayew, who spins and shoots from 18 yards but Lloris gets down well to stop. That is the best chance of the match so far.

Elsewhere Villa 0-1 Wolves

26 mins: Andersen threads the ball through to Eze in space between midfield and defence, he takes a touch or two before looking to feed Ayew but his through ball is over hit.

“Spurs don’t have intensity that Newcastle and Arsenal had yesterday,” suggests Jeff Sachs.

They are doing better than against Villa, I would argue.

24 mins: It is Olise’s left foot providing the only threat for Palace but his shot from 30 yards flies well over the bar.

Doherty sends a dinked cross into the box but Kane cannot put any power or direction on it and the ball bounces well wide.

22 mins: Olise sends in a wonderful cross with his left foot from the right but it goes just over Zaha’s head and out for a goal kick.

20 mins: Palace are defending well inside their own box. The ball is pinged into Kane’s feet but Guehi retrieves it before the striker knows it has gone.

Andy ‘not that one’ Flintoff says: “I’ve thought of a solution that pleases everybody – Lampard to West Ham and Moyes to Everton in a straight job swap.”

Ps Leeds 1-0 West Ham L

18 mins: Kane is trying to drop deep to collect the ball but Guehi is following him everywhere he goes to try and negate his influence.

16 mins: Kane looks to send the ball over the top for Perisic to latch onto but Andersen reads the danger and clears.

Spurs are moving the ball around quite nicely, which is a good sign. They just need to make the most of their early dominance.

14 mins: Doherty dinks a cross into the six-yard box but only the diminutive Gil is waiting and the ball goes over his head. The ball goes back into the box and Spurs do win a corner but it comes to nothing when Son dribbles out of play.

12 mins: Romero beats Zaha to a pass in the corner but makes a complete hash of it and puts it behind for a corner. Olise sends it towards the penalty spot where Dier is waiting to head clear.

10 mins: Perisic cuts in from the left and looks for Doherty on the opposite flank but his pass is cut out at the last second to stop the danger. Spurs have started the better side but they did that against Villa, too, and we all know how that worked out.

8 mins: Doherty sends a looping ball across the box but no one in white gets near it. The ball is cleared out to Skipp but he pings a pass straight to the goalkeeper.

Gil produces a couple of nice touches before taking aim but it is catching practice for Guaita.

6 mins: Olise cuts in from the right; he sends it into Ayew but the striker cannot control the ball inside the box and it goes out for a goal kick.

4 mins: Skipp drags Spurs up the pitch, he passes the ball to Son on the edge of the box, he knocks it to Gil whose shot lacks any power and is turned behind.

2 mins: Zaha takes a touch and then Doherty goes through him for no reason whatsoever. Otherwise quiet.

Joe Pearson points out Forest are winning at Southampton: “Johnson intercepted a pass and ran straight at goal. Squared the ball for Awoniyi for the simple tap in. Gorgeous!”

Kick-off

Jeff Sachs suggest a busy week of sackings: “Lampard, Moyes, Conte”

Patrick Vieira: “Hopefully we learn a lot from last year. We are always looking for the consistency in our performance. We are always aiming to move higher in the league.

“We come off a really performance away from home and it is important to carry it on tonight.

“The last couple of games Spurs have played they have conceded the first goal but in some they have won the game. They have the quality to do this.”

“Certain Spurs fans might want Conte gone, but you have to ask what more he could be doing with the team and squad at his disposal?” ponders Julian Menz.

“They had a great start to the season, but gravity has caught up with them, and they are 5th, which is probably par for Spurs.

“There is a myth about Conte that he demands ”galactico” signings, but that certainly wasn’t the case when he led Chelsea to the PL Title (Victor Moses was RWB for the love of….). And just for the record, Conte’s Chelsea were hardly dour. The team was scoring goals.

“Conte and Levy were never going to be a match made in heaven, but Conte did get Levy to splash a bit of cash.

“It was never going to be enough though, given the hyper-inflated transfer market.

“Spurs are more-or-less where you’d have expected them to be at this stage of the season.”

The football lacks entertainment. I think that is the fans’ issue.

“Are you actually darn sarf this evening, or checking this on your telly somewhere safely north of the river?” asks Jeremy Boyce. I cannot answer that for legal reasons.

“I managed to find my way to Selhurst Park many years ago, to watch Allan Durban period Shrewsbury Town scratch a 1 – 1 draw when we were up in the 2nd Division/Championship for a few seasons. We went up when Thatcher was elected, we went down when she resigned. Make of that what you will.

“I am more wondering about the relegation 6-pointer oop at t’Elland Road tonight, and the fates of the respective managers. Depending on the W/D/L possibilities of the +7 minutes additional time result tonight, if it’s an L for either of them, which is Moyest likely to get their Marsching orders ? They could probably both do with lots of W D and 40 points. I’ll get my coat…”

You and Moyes to get coats.

“Will, I agree, the soup discussions went out of control,” says Mary Waltz. “I have steeled my self for the possibility that Everton could drop into the relegation zone. It could be worse, I could be Kevin McCarthy’s mom. PS, is traditional beef stew it’s own category or is it too close to soup.”

Stew is not a soup, surely.

“I turned on Southampton-Forest only to see a marching band play what sounded like a funeral dirge version of ‘When the Saints Come Marching In’,” says Kári Tulinius. “I realize that Southampton are having a tough time of it lately, but that was a bit much. Mind you, the home crowd are in good voice now the match has started.”

That sounds like real entertainment.

Antonio Conte: “Our expectation is to do a good reaction after the result against Villa. When you lose a game, everything positive in the situation becomes negative.

“Our target is to start well, to go into the game and play football, to create chances and not concede a goal.

“Last game we didn’t have a slow start, we started very well. We have to play the whole game and stay in the game for 90 minutes. There are many games in one game. We have to be better than the last game.”

“No soup content today! Palace v Spurs is on the TV, but I’ve got Southampton v Forest going on the computer,” emails Joe Pearson. “Never too early for a relegation six-pointer!”

My in-laws have departed so Romanian food is off the menu. Chicken salad with French dressing roday.

“A clear dearth of attacking options on the Spurs bench,” emails Mike Nagle. “What about Troy Parrott or Dane Scarlett? How about Conte giving them a chance and some encouragement or doesn’t he trust youngsters?”

They are both out on loan. Conte, however, rarely bloods youngsters.

Some pre-match Conte …

Palace are unchanged, meaning Tomkins is on the bench after returning from suspension. There is no Jack Butland in the squad either because he is, supposedly, on his way to Manchester United.

Oh Spurs.

Dier and Skipp come into the team for Spurs. Gil keeps his place following his first-ever Premier League start for the club against Villa.

Starting lineups

Preamble