Defensive midfielder-Eric Dier
Dier was one of the other members of Tottenham’s usual starting XI that didn’t see the pitch at all against Rochdale. Similar to Eriksen’s situation, that makes Dier a strong bet to start this match.
The aggressive Englishman also needs a strong performance to keep a strong competitor at bay. Victor Wanyama continues to increase his fitness levels after his prolonged injury absence. Dier is a favourite of Pochettino’s, but needs to string some better performances together to keep his Kenyan counterpart on the bench.
Defensive midfielder-Mousa Dembele
There’s no Tottenham player in a better run of form right now than Mousa Dembele. He’s been an absolute revelation for Spurs over the past several weeks.
The key for the Belgian midfielder will be to keep the momentum going. He’s got more than enough talent to dominate a very average Palace midfield, but his play tends to go up and down depending on the level of competition. If he sinks to the level of Hodgson’s options, he won’t make it past an hour. Spurs fans have every reason to believe he’ll keep his level of play significantly higher than that.