Thomas Frank admitted it is difficult for Tottenham to improve with the games coming thick and fast, but hopes they can bounce back against Crystal Palace.

Spurs spent Christmas Day in the bottom half of the table, sitting 14th with 22 points to their name after back-to-back losses against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool – a match they finished with nine men.

In fact, they have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches, triumphing 2-0 at home against Brentford. Away from home, they have not won since the end of October.

Asked if he was in his toughest period as a manager, Frank acknowledged he faced a challenge, but he is not shying away from it.

"I think I see a lot of similarities to first head coach job [at Brondby]," he said. "Although different scale.

"This is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so makes it a bigger and different challenge.

"First job, I tried to build something over time and with a lot of good people. Where this makes it extra challenging is we also play Champions League and Premier League at the same time. We are trying to improve when at 100mph.

"I have seen lots of things we improve on, but most important thing is how we can create consistent performances day in and day out."

Building towards Palace

@BetMGMUK pic.twitter.com/LITyn59B96

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 26, 2025

Palace, meanwhile, have four points more than Spurs and sit eighth in the table after suffering defeats to Manchester City and Leeds United in their last two league outings.

They also come into this match on the back of a heartbreaking loss to Arsenal on penalties in the EFL Cup on Tuesday.

Oliver Glasner's side have also had to deal with a congested schedule due to their Conference League participation, though he is hopeful they can quickly bounce back from their recent disappointments.

"Of course, it was maybe the worst performance of this season against Leeds. Maybe we have to accept it, with all the games. This can happen," Glasner said.

"[Spurs is] a great team, a very good manager there. To win against them, we have to show a great performance. Like every single Premier League game, it'll be a nice challenge for us."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Crystal Palace – Jean-Philippe Mateta

Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored 23 goals across his last 31 Premier League starts at Selhurst Park.

He also scored the game's only goal in this exact fixture last season: a 1-0 win for Crystal Palace in October 2024, though he is a doubt for this game due to a knee issue.

Tottenham – Pedro Porro

Pedro Porro leads all Tottenham players for line-breaking passes (133) and passes breaking the opposition's defensive line (13) in the Premier League this season.

Meanwhile, only Mohammed Kudus (22) has created more chances for them than Porro (20) this term.

MATCH PREDICTION: CRYSTAL PALACE WIN

Palace did the Premier League double over Tottenham last season, as many victories as they had managed in their previous 22 against Spurs (D3 L17).

Spurs lost 1-0 away and 2-0 at home to Palace in the Premier League last season. It is the first time in their league history that they have both lost and failed to score in consecutive league meetings with the Eagles.

And, after their loss at Selhurst Park in 2024-25, Spurs are looking to avoid consecutive away league games against Palace for the first time in their history.

Palace have won their final league game in each of the last four calendar years, never doing so in five in a row before. Indeed, they had not won their final league game in any of the previous nine years before this run (D7 L2).

Spurs have only lost their final league game in one of the last 16 calendar years (W8 D7), but when facing opponents starting the day above them in the table, Tottenham have only won one of their last 19 London derbies away from home (D6 L12), with that lone victory coming against Brentford in February (2-0).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Crystal Palace – 49%

Draw – 25.6%

Tottenham – 25.4%