Tottenham Hotspur will head into another big rivalry matchup in the Premier League this Sunday against Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace knowing that they need to pick up the full three points. An they will have to do so without their best player and captain Cristian Romero, who picked up a soft red card after a surprisingly poor performance in a tough loss to Liverpool.
The tough losses have been a recurring theme for Tottenham this season, and after being embarrassed by London rivals Chelsea, Arsenal, and Fulham already this season, Spurs know they need to do a lot better on the road this weekend against the Eagles.
Here are three Tottenham Hotspur stars most likely to ascend the game and be Man of the Match winners for Spurs this Sunday afternoon.
RW Mohammed Kudus
With Cristian Romero out suspended, Mohammed Kudus is going to be the best player on the pitch for Tottenham this weekend, and Spurs, as per usual, are going to have to ride or die the Ghanaian international's creative genius in this one.
Kudus is the team's leader in assists, key passes per game, and dribbles completed per game. He will have a tough matchup against the Palace defense, and a lot will be placed on his shoulders in terms of creative output, ball carrying, and even the ability to get his own shots off.
DM Joao Palhinha
The best ball winner on Tottenham, Joao Palhinha has been phased out of the starting lineup in recent weeks, but against a rough and tumble team like Crystal Palace, something tells me that Thomas Frank will turn back to the Portuguese international to be the destroyer.
This is the kind of matchup Palhinha likes to feast on. Palace will try to take the reigns of this game and hit Spurs hard with direct attacks, which Palhinha can then break up and help restore the advantage to Spurs. He has an insane 4.1 tackles per game this season.
ST Richarlison
Richarlison is probably going to be the most inconsistent player on the pitch for either side on Sunday, but when he gets hot, man, is he hard to stop. And he showed a bit of that hot streak and nasty edge again vs. Liverpool last weekend, and while that was probably the beloved former Evertonian finding that Merseyside spark again, there's every chance he carries that into the Palace game. All he needs is one shot - either a beauty from range or a bungled cross from Kudus - to give glory to Spurs and hog Man of the Match honors.