Tottenham face a crucial trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday as Thomas Frank’s side desperately seek to halt their alarming slide down the Premier League table.

Spurs are sitting 13th after a turbulent campaign that has seen them win just six of their opening 17 league matches and lose five of their last eight top flight games.

The clash at Selhurst Park represents an opportunity for Frank to restore some confidence following Saturday evening’s crushing 2-1 defeat to Liverpool, a result that left the manager under mounting pressure from supporters who have witnessed just two home league wins all season.

The loss to Liverpool proved particularly painful for Tottenham after they were reduced to nine men following red cards for Xavi Simons in the first half and Cristian Romero in stoppage time, with the Argentine captain losing his composure after winning a free kick and throwing a fit that earned him a second yellow.

Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitiké scored for the visitors before a late Richarlison consolation, condemning Spurs to another setback in what has become an increasingly inconsistent and error-strewn campaign under Frank.

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Spurs have a battle on their hands.

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Palace represent dangerous opponents for Tottenham, sitting five places above them, with Oliver Glasner’s side possessing the pace and directness on the counter-attack to exploit Spurs’ vulnerable backline.

Frank will also be without several key players through injury with James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski all long-term absentees, while the suspensions for Simons and Romero further deplete his options for the crucial festive period.

Another player who’s been sidelined almost all season, and yet to make a single competitive appearance under Frank, is Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma.

Spurs were open to offers for the 29-year-old in the summer and he has been repeatedly penalised for disciplinary issues behind-the-scenes, with reports suggesting the Lilywhites have decided to sell him next year.

While Bissouma’s deal expires in 2026, Spurs do have an option to extend it by a further year, but before that, supporters and Frank will be hoping he can contribute on the pitch at some point first.

Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma could return from injury on Boxing Day

The former Brighton star, who played a key role in Spurs’ Europa League final win against Man United in May, has been called up to represent Mali at AFCON regardless of his injury.

According to Pierrot Le Foot, Bissouma has been ruled out of their opening Group A fixture against Zambia this afternoon in Casablanca.

The national team captain is one of three key players unavailable for the Eagles, alongside central defender Sikou Niakate and experienced right-back Hamari Traore, leaving Mali manager Tom Saintfiet with significant selection headaches.

Subscribe for deeper Spurs coverage and player insights Looking for clearer context on Spurs’ struggles, Yves Bissouma’s availability and tactical shifts? Subscribe to our newsletter for in-depth Tottenham coverage, transfer context and expert match & player analysis across the Premier League and beyond. Subscribe Subscribe for deeper Spurs coverage and player insights Looking for clearer context on Spurs’ struggles, Yves Bissouma’s availability and tactical shifts? Subscribe to our newsletter for in-depth Tottenham coverage, transfer context and expert match & player analysis across the Premier League and beyond.

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However, it is believed that Bissouma is on the verge of a return to action after resuming full training.

PLF report that Bissouma could play against Morocco on Boxing Day, or, failing that, against Comoros three days later.

This could come as good news for Spurs, as once the AFCON tournament is over, Bissouma could well be available for selection by Frank — giving them another option in the engine room.

However, he hasn’t exactly made the best impression since Frank’s arrival due to his off-field antics, so it remains to be seen whether the tactician will trust in his services.

Related "Really poor" – Gary Neville says Tottenham player exposed the team against Liverpool

The Sky commentator wasn’t impressed.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

Tottenham Hotspur booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup courtesy of a 6-1 win over League One side Rochdale at Wembley on Wednesday night.

VAR dominated much of the post-match discussion, but it was a strong performance from a Tottenham side that will be desperate to land the trophy this season.

Erik Lamela looked to have sent Spurs ahead in the sixth minute of the match, but the Argentine’s effort was bizarrely ruled out courtesy of VAR.

The decision did not come back to haunt Mauricio Pochettino’s side, however, as they ensured that they would be present in the final eight of the competition.

Lamela, who is believed to collect £70,000 a week in wages at his English club, failed to get his name on the scoresheet, but the Argentine was very impressive.

He has not long been back from the hip problem that saw him miss a lot of football, but the Tottenham fans have been delighted with what they have seen in recent weeks.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction in relation to the 25-year-old can be seen below:

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Railways finished with 153/7 on the opening day of their Central ZoneRanji Trophy encounter against Uttar Pradesh at Meerut. Yere Goud’sfighting half century propped up an innings which never recovered fromthe loss of early wickets. UP’s pace attack of Ashish Winston Zaidiand Shalabh Srivastava struck the early blows but Railways recoveredfrom 65/4 thanks to a 63 run stand between Goud and Prahlad Rawat.All the good work was undone later in the day as three wickets fell tothe spinners in the space of 12 runs. Mohd. Kaif took two wickets inone over with his off breaks, plunging the visitors to 141/7. Atstumps, Goud was still unbeaten on 75 (211 balls, 8 fours). The matchhad started 60 minutes late due to a wet pitch, only 80.4 overs beingbowled during the day.

Before the series Virat Kohli had promised aggression, and he got this from his opening bowlers. Dimuth Karunaratne was the first man out, edging a short one from Ishant Sharma to Ajinkya Rahane at gully for 9.The other opener, Kaushal Silva, followed two balls after Karunaratne, attempting to hook Varun Aaron. But he might have been unlucky – it wasn’t clear if there was glove involved and it seemed he was given out caught off the arm guard.For obvious reasons, the spotlight was on Kumar Sangakkara, but even he could not last long – he became R Ashwin’s first victim courtesy a fine reflex catch by KL Rahul at silly point.Ashwin also claimed Lahiru Thirimanne, this time Ajinkya Rahane plucking an impressive low catch to his left at slip.It was 60 for 5 after Ashwin got Jehan Mubarak for a duck.Angelo Mathews counterattacked with a brisk half-century, but even he eventually fell to the fired-up Ashwin. And again, the offspinner was aided by a great piece of work in the field – this time from Rohit Sharma.Dhammika Prasad became Ashwin’s victim No. 5 – it took him just 10.3 overs to claim his fifth, his fastest five-for in Tests.Amit Mishra, playing his first Test in four years, accounted for Dinesh Chandimal, who had been given an early life.Mishra had two in two when he dismissed Tharindu Kaushal next ball with a googly.Rangana Herath was the last man out, and Ashwin’s sixth victim, but not before he added 23 quick, valuable runs.

Bangladesh opener Imrul Kayes believes a draw in the first Test against South Africa, the No. 1 ranked Test side, in Chittagong, will be a “big achievement” for Bangladesh. The hosts beat South Africa for the first time in an ODI series last week and Imrul hoped the team could take the confidence gained from the ODIs into the Test format as well. The first Test in Chittagong starts from July 21.”I think a batting-friendly pitch would be best for us,” Imrul said in Chittagong. “If we can score over 400 runs and they match us, the game will go towards a draw. Against the No 1 Test team in the world, a draw would be a big achievement.”The team is in a good rhythm. We won the last four ODI series at home. I think that if we can replicate our ODI form into the Tests, there will be something good for Bangladesh.”Imrul’s wish for a batting track could come true as Zahid Reza Babu, the pitch curator of Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, has traditionally delivered pitches that favour the batsmen heavily. Imrul, however, admitted that the spinners will ultimately be required to do most of the work.”Our spinners take more wickets in almost all our home series,” he said. “We don’t have pitches on which pace bowlers can take five-six wickets. So the spinners will once again need to pick up wickets. Shakib and Taijul will have to lead the way, bowl well and take wickets.”Bangladesh’s reliance can be gauged from the fact that in the eight home Tests since January 2014, their spinners have taken 91 of the 110 wickets to fall to bowlers. Shakib Al Hasan leads the way with 33 wickets in eight Tests, with Taijul contributing 27 wickets in six Tests.Among Bangladesh’s Tests specialists, Imrul has been in good form. He made 150 in the second innings against Pakistan in the Khulna Test and also struck 72 against India in Fatullah. Imrul said he was confident he could handle the South African pace attack, which will include Dale Steyn – who had been rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour – and Vernon Philander in addition to Morne Morkel.”Opening the batting is definitely challenging. The first spell is bowled by the best bowlers and whatever help there is from the pitch is at the start of the game,” he said. “If the openers can fight through this early period and score runs, it makes life easier for the rest of the batting line-up.”Almost every bowling attack in the world has guys bowling 140-145kph regularly. But we cannot think too much about it. We are playing positive cricket and by being consistent, we can handle their pace attack. I made my debut in South Africa and I have played Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. It was in different conditions but I hope here I won’t have any problems.”Both Bangladesh and South Africa will not train over the weekend due to the Eid holidays. In the Bangladesh team, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das and Taijul Islam have stayed back in Chittagong while the other players have gone home to celebrate Eid.

Kumar Sangakkara was driven by a “healthy rivalry” with Mahela Jayawardene, former Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody has said. Both men have retired as Sri Lanka’s two highest Test run scorers – Sangakkara sits atop the list with 12,400 runs.The pair had bloomed during Moody’s stint as coach, and memorably struck a world-record 624 runs together against South Africa in 2006. Sri Lanka drew Test series in England and New Zealand, and progressed to the final of the 2007 World Cup under Moody.”There’s a very strong bond between Mahela and Kumar, but I also think there was a healthy rivalry between the two,” Moody said. “It never really came to the surface. It was underlying. It was there in a positive way where one would drive the other with their performances. That’s why they were so formidable as a partnership in the middle.”Moody described the pair as a “coach’s dream” because of their leadership ability and tenacity. Jayawardene became captain during Moody’s tenure, during which the Sri Lanka team also moved away from a strongly hierarchical team culture.”Mahela and Kumar really sang from the same hymn sheet with regards to trying to improve the professionalism around the team, and trying to improve the mindset of the team playing outside of Sri Lanka. One of the great challenges we addressed during my tenure was to look at the way we play away from home and look at the technical and mental aspect of how we play outside Sri Lanka. Mahela and Kumar ran with that idea because they saw it as a great challenge for them both. Once you have players of that quality on board, you very quickly gather momentum within the team. “Sangakkara also made a definitive career move under Moody. He had been the Test side’s wicketkeeper batsman through the early noughties, but gave up the gloves ahead of that series against South Africa in mid-2006.”I remember Kumar having a conversation with me about halfway through my time with as a coach,” Moody said. “He was seeking my advice about his role as the wicketkeeper-batsman in the side and his career ambitions. I said to him at the time that the team wanted him to do everything, but at the same time that batting and keeping wicket in all formats wasn’t something he could do for a long period, and do it as successfully as he would like.”I just asked him, ‘What’s your ambition as a batsman? Do you want to be the best batsman in the world?’ He basically said he wanted to achieve that milestone – he didn’t say he wanted to be the best batsman in the world, just that he wanted to be the best he possibly could be. So I said to him, ‘The team’s going to benefit either way. If you’re going to have that ambition to be the best you can be by handing the gloves in in Test cricket, the team’s going to be the beneficiary of that.’ We’ve seen over the last seven years that he has been the most consistent Test batsman over that period.”Moody also said Sangakkara was “right at the top” of players he has coached “with regards to how thorough his preparation was”. Sangakkara was not captain during Moody’s time with the team, but had become a leader within the group.”The standout leadership skill with Kumar was setting the great example on and off the field. He was very thoughtful and articulate as well. A lot of players would gravitate towards him naturally and learn from his mature outlook on the game and on life. That has been one of the important features of Sri Lanka cricket – that they’ve had Kumar and Mahela as those godfather figureheads to guide the team and the next generation through.”

Sri Lanka Board President’s XI took control of the West Indians’ three-day warm-up encounter at the SSC, as two young batsmen struck centuries. Udara Jayasundera remained unbeaten on 124 at stumps, by which time the hosts had whittled out a 24-run lead, with seven first-innings wickets in hand. Jayasundera had shared a 214-run stand with 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Minod Bhanuka, who hit an attractive 101 from 160 balls.The partnership was all the more impressive for the state of the scoreline at its beginning. They had come together third ball after Kemar Roach had dismissed two batsmen from the Test squad in successive deliveries; Kusal Mendis was caught at point, and Lahiru Thirimanne offered an edge to the wicketkeeper. As Sri Lanka have picked only eight batsmen in its Test squad, Thirimanne’s failure is unlikely to force him out of the Test XI, but it does put further pressure on the batsman, who has had a modest home Test season so far.Jayasundera was largely the more secure of the two batsman, and Bhanuka was the strokemaker who occasionally rode his luck, with thick edges either passing between or over the slips. Bhanuka was especially quick on the short ball, pulling and hooking the West Indians’ seamers, while Jayasundera relied more on his drive. They were circumspect against Roach and Jason Holder, who were the most disciplined of the quicks, but scored freely off the wayward Shannon Gabriel. Jerome Taylor was rested on Saturday, and did not bowl.The West Indian spinners were unable to make a breakthrough on a pitch that had slowed down considerably. Frontline spinners Devendra Bishoo and Jomel Warrican both traveled at more than 4.5 runs an over. Holder removed Bhanuka late in the day, and the President’s XI went to stumps at 233 for 3.Earlier in the day, Suraj Randiv had completed an impressive five-wicket haul when he removed Shai Hope and Holder on consecutive deliveries. Denesh Ramdin’s dismissal for 20 left West Indians at 166 for 9, but some big-hitting from Carlos Brathwaite, who struck four sixes and four fours in his 54, took the visitors to 202 all out.

New Zealand Cricket has reported an annual net surplus of NZ$23.7 million for the 2014-15 financial year, after the annual general meeting on Thursday in Wellington. The considerable surplus was a consequence of the board co-hosting the World Cup 2015 along with Australia.NZC’s chief executive Dave White praised an extraordinary year for the board, as significant gains were made both on and off the field, including New Zealand’s performances, a strong financial result, and agreement on a lucrative FTP programme, an NZC release said.White, however, stated that the nature of ICC’s funding model meant NZC would face difficult financial challenges over the next two or three years, and the board is forecasting a loss of $5 million for the year 2015-16.”The 2015-16 surplus is critical for NZC in terms of our long-term viability, especially with the next two of three years promising to be financially demanding,” White said. “Having said that, I’m delighted to report that NZC has achieved, or is in the process of achieving all our Cricket World Cup legacy goals, including improving the playing infrastructure, growing attendances and viewership numbers, and improving participation numbers – especially at junior level.”NZC chairman Stuart Heal stated that New Zealand’s performance in the past year helped raise the profile of cricket, and created a surge in the interest for the sport, including women’s cricket.”Seldom has cricket in New Zealand been celebrated in the way it has over the past twelve months.” Heal said. “In reaching the Cricket World Cup final – and soaring up the Test and ODI rankings, the BLACKCAPS helped lift the profile of cricket to unprecedented heights, and create for us an excellent springboard into the future. We are noticing a profound upturn in interest in cricket.”The WHITE FERNS’ success in winning crucial Women’s World Championship points against England, India, and more recently Sri Lanka, has only reaffirmed cricket as a game for all New Zealanders.”Three NZC directors – Martin Snedden, Don Mackinnon and Geoff Allott – were re-elected to the board, while Heal returned as the board chairman.

Ex-Comets batsmen Mark Higgs and Brad Haddin returned to Canberra to givetheir former teammates a lesson as New South Wales won by 118 runs in a rainshortened Mercantile Mutual Cup match at Manuka Oval today.Haddin, who last year scored 133 off 124 balls for the Comets againstVictoria on the same ground, began in a similar aggressive mood and raced to50 off 38 balls, the fastest half century in domestic one-day competitionthus far this year. The innings was punctuated with a variety of superblytimed drives lofted safely in the area over mid off and mid on, and fromfront foot drives through cover and mid wicket.Although former NSW paceman Anthony Stuart took 3-24 in a seven-over openingspell for the Comets, he lacked an effective partner from the other end,with the Comets minus injured regular bowlers Jason Voros and Lee Hansen.With the base provided by Haddin’s blistering innings, man of the match MarkHiggs was able to take advantage of occasional loose deliveries by the restof the attack and his 77 from 75 balls was risk free until he ran himselfout at the end of the innings.With half an hour lost to rain during the Blues innings of 9/252, the matchwas reduced to 47 overs per side and the Comets’ target increased to 255under the Duckworth/Lewis system. With the target a forbidding 5.42 runs perover, the accurate unchanged ten over spell of NSW opening bowler Don Nashyielded 3 wickets for 31 as the Comets batsman tried and failed to increasethe run-rate. Only captain Rod Tucker was able to briefly lift the rateagainst NSW spinners Jamie Stewart (in his first match since transferringfrom Western Australia) and Gavin Robertson, and the Comets crashed to theworst defeat in their brief existence.The inability to keep talented players such as Haddin, Higgs, and MichaelBevan will make this competition a continued struggle for the Comets. It isdifficult to see how they can be competitive if players must leave to playthe extended game and achieve their dream of playing Test Cricket.

India and Pakistan have played a lot of exciting games in bothversions of the game. At the same time, both these teams can be asunpredictable as the English weather. The talent in both the sides isimmense yet sometimes the scorecards suggest that both these teamshardly play to their full potential. It was one of those kind of gamesat Sharjah with India making heavy weather of chasing a lowscore. Eventually the target was achieved after losing half the side,which was not convincing by any standards.Srinath, who has had very ordinary games on his return after a breakwas left out, which would help him in sorting out his problems. Thedecision deserves to be appreciated, as it is an indication that thecurrent form overrides either an individual?s reputation or pastdeeds. One can only hope that this criterion is followed consistentlyin order to produce the required results. Prasad replacing Srinathprovided the breakthrough by dismissing the dangerous Afridi whileAgarkar got rid of the talented Razzak. It has been a while since anearly breakthrough was achieved and the heartening thing is that theinitiative gained was not squandered away.The young opener Imran Nazir played with pluck and in the company ofInzamam looked like putting Pakistan in sight of a big total. He hitKumble over the top for boundaries with elan before his inexperienceled to his downfall when he played across the line to Joshi. Muchdepended on Youhana and Inzamam but a comedy of errors resulted inYouhana being adjudged run out. Yet another coincidence where Inzamamwas involved in a run out but at least on this occasion he was not atfault. Robin Singh had Inzamam snapped smartly by Karim behind thewicket who had a very good match.The lower order did not offer many problems despite some consciouseffort by Moin Khan and Wasim Akram. The low total of Pakistan canonly be attributed to their under par batting and some very ordinaryrunning between the wickets.Ganguly and Tendulkar had to get off to a decent start to ensure thatnothing untoward happened during the chase. Ganguly played a crispinnings and the departure of both the openers in quick successionprovided a glimmer of hope to the Pakistanis. Dravid and Azharuddinbatted resolutely as the required rate was not a demandingfactor. Akhtar worked up real pace even on a slowish track but he wasnegotiated safely by both Azharuddin and Dravid. Just as the matchwas petering to a dull finish the Indians lost quick wickets to evokesome interest in the proceedings.The target was achieved much later than expected and also by a lessernumber of wickets. The trio of Akram, Akhtar and Younis tried veryhard and it was due to their efforts that the match lasted as long asit did. The Indians will not grumble with the result but they have totry and work out a formula to gain and maintain overall consistency.This victory has given the Indians the advantage of knowing what isrequired of them before they get into their next round of leaguematches. It remains to be seen if Pakistan can make the tournamentwide open by winning against South Africa.