Palace v Spurs - preview panel

We look ahead to Sunday's trip to Selhurst Park with legendary former skipper Ledley King and football writer and Palace fan Dominic Fifield.

THE LEGEND - LEDLEY KING

Ledley is modern-day Spurs great, one-club man between 1999-2012, captain, League Cup winner, world-class defender and now Club Ambassasdor.

"It's one of the toughest places to go in the Premier League, Selhurst Park. It's compact, the fans get right behind them and they thrive on that atmosphere in these games. It will be a difficult match but one where we know if we perform to our capabilities, we'll look to win. The team will be high on confidence after the performances against United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Juventus. We'll have to win the battle first and don't let the crowd have an influence - Palace play off that and that's when things can become difficult. The start is important, so look to keep them quiet and go from there."

THE PUNDIT - DOMINIC FIFIELD

Dominic is London football correspondent for the Guardian and Observer and knows Palace inside-out.

"Crystal Palace gave the rest of the division a seven-match head start this season and, under Roy Hodgson's stewardship, are much improved: they are generally well drilled and confident these days, and have succumbed only once at Selhurst Park since the manager's first game in charge back in September. Prior to the recent loss at Everton, they had actually been beaten only by Arsenal in 15 topflight matches stretching back to that narrow defeat to Spurs at Wembley on Bonfire Night, and they should go into Sunday's game refreshed after a fortnight without a game. That suggests another tight contest, similar to that back in April when the hosts held their own against much-fancied opponents before eventually being prised apart.

"And yet Tottenham might actually be meeting Palace at the right time given the home side's lengthy list of injured absentees. From the talismanic Wilfried Zaha to on-loan Ruben Loftus-Cheek, to the captain Jason Puncheon and his deputy Scott Dann, via the veteran goalkeeper Julian Speroni and the top scorer Bakary Sako, this team have seen their options decimated of late. It says something when Hodgson, a coach of over 40 years, declares this to be the worst injury crisis he has ever experienced, and the side's ability to clamber to safety this season may hinge upon restoring some of the walking wounded to full fitness. Mamadou Sakho should be available at the back, but the others remain in rehabilitation, and who will provide Palace's creativity in the absence of Zaha? Unless Christian Benteke, goalless here since May, finally imposes himself, the hosts may find this a slog of an afternoon."