Tottenham Hotspur will head into 2026 on the back of a victory after beating Crystal Palace in a tense match at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Sunday.
One goal made all the difference between the two sides in London, as Archie Gray’s first-half header proved to be the winner for Thomas Frank’s men.
The England U21 international scored the first goal of his senior career when he sent the ball into the far corner after Richarlison had kicked the ball into the middle of the penalty area.
Where Gray ranks among Tottenham’s best players against Palace
Although Gray scored the match-winning goal and deserves plaudits for that, he was not the standout player of the night for the Lilywhites.
It was Kevin Danso, with his imperious central defense, who was the team’s best player. According to Sofascore, he won ten duels, seven more than Micky van de Ven, and kept Jean-Philippe Mateta incredibly calm with his effective defensive work.
The Austria international may not be the silkiest defender, completing 63% of his pass attempts, but his hard defensive work was necessary to keep the clean sheet intact on Sunday.
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Ranking Tottenham’s best players against Palace |
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|---|---|
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Rank |
Player |
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1 |
Kevin Danso |
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2 |
Archie Gray |
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3 |
Rodrigo Bentancur |
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4 |
Djed Spence |
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5 |
Richarlison |
As you can see in the table above, we have Richarlison ranked among Spurs’ top five players, despite being found offside for two goals.
The Brazilian striker assisted Gray’s winner and won nine duels, including six aerial battles, according to Sofascore, showing he was a useful outlet, despite the poor timing of his runs for the two disallowed goals.
While there were several impressive players, some Spurs players were also saved by Gray’s winning goal, as it may have spared them from harsher criticism.
The Spurs flop that must finally be abandoned
Despite the victory, Frank still has to ruthlessly remove right-back Pedro Porro from the starting XI after another pointless display against Palace at Selhurst Park.
The Spain international whipped in the corner which was then flicked on by Kolo Muani and Richarlison to find Gray, but it was a rare bright spark in an otherwise dull performance.
Spurs podcaster Seb Martin noted during the game that Porro was “having a disastrous season”, and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment when you look at the numbers behind his campaign.
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against the palace |
Pedro Porro |
|---|---|
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Minutes |
90 |
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Tackles made |
0/1 |
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Ground duels won |
2/4 |
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Aerial duels won |
1/3 |
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Dribbled pass |
2x |
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Success accuracy |
56% |
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Lost possession |
25x |
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Big chances created |
0 |
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Statistics via Sofascore |
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As you can see in the table above, the former Sporting star lost possession 25 times without creating a single ‘big chance’ for the team with his attempted crosses.
He also struggled defensively, being dribbled past twice without making a single tackle, and these stats show he was a liability to the team in and out of possession.
Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence for Porro. According to Sofascore, the full-back is losing possession 19.1 times per game on average in the Premier League this season, more than the 17.5 times per game he did last season.
The 26-year-old flop’s crossing accuracy also dropped from 31% to 19% compared to last season, according to Sofascore, while he also went from 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game to 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game.
Porro scored two goals and provided six assists in the Premier League last season for the Lilywhites. So far this season, however, the defender has zero goals and one assist halfway through the campaign.
These statistics illustrate how far the Spain international has fallen from his best in north London, and the disappointing performance against Palace was the latest in a long line, as Seb Martin said.
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With this in mind, Frank must finally drop the former Manchester City man from the starting line-up for the clash with Brentford on New Year’s Day, possibly bringing in Ben Davies at left-back to move Djed Spence to right-back.
