Crystal Palace will be underdogs against Tottenham in the FA Cup but have proven they can beat anybody on their day

Crystal Palace may languish in the bottom half of the Premier League but they have established themselves as a team more than capable of going toe to toe with the best around.

For England’s bigger sides, facing Palace represents a test that must be negotiated with extreme caution, as the majority of the Big Six have discovered this season.

Roy Hodgson’s outfit beat Manchester City 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium over Christmas in one of the biggest upsets of the campaign to date and took Liverpool the distance in a 4-3 thriller last weekend.

This weekend it’s Tottenham’s turn to face nonconformist Palace as the pair meet at Selhurst Park in Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round tie.

Picking up points

Palace have just 22 points from 23 games in the league but five of those have come against the Big Six, including the win against City and draws with Arsenal and Manchester United. They have been competitive in every encounter, and only narrowly lost 1-0 to both Chelsea and Spurs earlier in the season.

“There have been so many games this season where we have taken encouragement and we have played better than the result has shown,” Hodgson said after the Liverpool defeat.

The Eagles seem to come into their own when up against tougher opposition. Their game is suited to facing teams that like to dominate possession as it allows Palace to capitalise on the pace of Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Jordan Ayew on the counter-attack.

Under the pragmatic Hodgson they have learned to defend resolutely, but it is against like-minded teams, when they are forced onto the front foot, that their struggle to break down opponents becomes apparent.

Goalscoring woes

It will be no revelation to learn that Palace are desperately lacking a proven scorer, having averaged just one goal per game this season – even though they netted three at Anfield last Saturday.

They are overly reliant on Zaha and Townsend to deliver the goods and the fact that captain Luka Milivojevic is the club’s joint-top scorer with six goals this season – five from the penalty spot – is instructive.

Townsend is the other player to have notched six goals, but two of those came against West Brom in the Carabao Cup third round, which Palace were subsequently knocked out of.

The 27-year-old did step up to score against Liverpool and also bagged a goal of the season contender in the win at City, but his odd moments of brilliance are too rare for him to be considered the solution.

It’s a similar case with Ayew, who has been deployed as a false nine in recent weeks and previously played as one of two forwards. He has flattered to deceive, with just two goals and one assist in more than 1,000 minutes of action.

Sturdy at the back

Defensively, Palace have improved significantly under Hodgson’s guidance, and tend to concede relatively little for a team in the bottom half of the table – bar the anomaly at Anfield last time out.

With 32 goals against, Palace have the joint-eighth best defensive record in the league – along with Arsenal, Watford and Brighton – and with eight clean sheets, only Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Tottenham have kept more.

Centre-back Mamadou Sakho has been an integral part of that Eagles defence and is one of just two men to have played every minute in the league for them this season.

This weekend they will have to put it all on the line again against another Big Six opponent in Tottenham, who have been hampered by injuries to key personnel in recent weeks.

Both Harry Kane and Dele Alli are ruled out until March, while Son Heung-Min is away at the Asian Cup, but Spurs are expected to have Lucas Moura, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko back for the clash.

For Palace, their main goal this year will be to stay in the Premier League after an unconvincing start to the campaign, but the FA Cup presents a welcome break from that battle and an opportunity for fans to dream.

The club have pedigree in the competition, too, having reached the final in 2016. They will start as underdogs against Tottenham but, having proven themselves capable of beating anybody on their day and with the FA Cup’s propensity for delivering shocks, don’t rule anything out.