Crystal Palace Player Ratings: 'Imperious' 8/10 but 5/10 drops 'first half stinker' v Tottenham

Crystal Palace ended up without any points after the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon, despite large periods of dominance in the London derby.

An opportunistic Archie Gray header was all that separated the two sides, although Spurs did see two Richarlison goals chalked off by VAR for offside. It means that a historic 2025 for Crystal Palace ends with a five match unbeaten run.

The Eagles are back in action against Fulham in south London on New Year’s Day. Here’s how the Crystal Palace players rated.

Crystal Palace player ratings

GK - Dean Henderson, 6

Needed to own his box and command his defence more tonight. Looked a little off the pace under the lights at Selhurst Park. Did save well late on from a driven Rodrigo Bentancur shot.

LWB - Tyrick Mitchell, 7

Caused some real problems for Pedro Porro on that flank. Always an option for the Eagles and found space to dart inside at times. A shame none of those moments led to a Crystal Palace goal.

CB - Marc Guehi, 7

Great with the ball at his feet today, picking passes through the Spurs side easily in the first half. Had a good headed chance to score in the 79th minute but unable to hit the target.

CB - Maxence Lacroix, 8

Imperious at centre-back, that was a very confident performance. Richarlison wanted to have it physical with Lacroix but the Crystal Palace man put him off that early doors and deserved having his name sung by the Crystal Palace faithful. Should have done better with a free header on the Spurs goal in the 70th minute.

CB - Jefferson Lerma, 6

A decent job from the makeshift centre-back. Did, at times, look unconventional in that role and lost his positioning prior to the disallowed Richarlison goal. The Brazil international did cause Lerma a headache but the Eagles man didn’t back down from battle with some important involvements.

RWB - Nathaniel Clyne, 6

Could perhaps have offered more width to the Crystal Palace side and his attacking output is a downgrade on Daniel Munoz. A good shift nonetheless. Got his head on a classy Yeremy cross in the 55th minute but chose to nod back to an unsuspecting Justin Devenny rather than goalwards.

CDM - Adam Wharton, 6

Some rare misplaced passes in the first 30 minutes before he started to turn it on. Sprayed the ball around nicely at times after that but rushed a decent shooting opportunity shortly before the break.

CDM - Will Hughes, 8

Another engine room performance from the veteran. Some important sliding tackles saw his name echo out around Selhurst Park. Covered a lot of ground, as usual, with the Eagles dominating more of the play than the scoreline perhaps suggests.

CAM - Yeremy Pino, 5

A tale of two halves. Dropped a stinker in the opening 45 minutes with a skied shot, loose passes and half-cooked free kick. Better after the break with good deliveries - one onto the head of Clyne should have hit the back of the net.

CAM - Justin Devenny, 7

There’s so much to like about Justin Devenny. Constantly in the right positions and picking off the right passes. Lacks so much conviction in his end product, which frustrated the Selhurst Park crowd at times. Should have been on his toes to poke home when Clyne headed into his feet.

ST - Jean-Philippe Mateta, 7

Plenty of hustle and bustle but not so much goal threat. Some nice hold up play in the first half and a constant physical presence but would have wanted more of the ball closer to the Spurs goal. Could perhaps have been more alert to get in the way of the Gray header.

SUBS - Eddie Nketiah (7), Christantus Uche (7), Romain Esse (5).

In other news, Tottenham and Crystal Palace target labelled 'complete striker' switches agent ahead of January window.