Mark Lawrenson on whether Spurs will lose to Crystal Palace on Sunday

Mark Lawrenson has given his score prediction ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Spurs face their third London derby in the space of a week, but this time attentions turn to another cup competition when both sides will be looking to book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Mauricio Pochettino’s players will be licking their wounds after exiting the Carabao Cup semi final on penalties to Chelsea last night.

Due to his mounting injuries, the manager will once again have to shuffle his team selection.

Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Ben Davies miss out through injury, while Moussa Sissoko is considered a doubt after injuring his knee in a clash with Serge Aurier against Chelsea.

Heung-min Son is on his way back to London after South Korea’s Asian Cup hopes ended, but he will not return in time to face Palace.

Lawrenson believes that Spurs will exit another cup competition come Sunday evening.

He told BBC Sport: “This is a very big game for Tottenham’s season after Chelsea knocked them out of the Carabao Cup on Thursday.

“As daft as it sounds, though, with the way things are going with their injury list, going out of the FA Cup might be a blessing in disguise for Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino because he is running out of players, particularly in attack.

“This will be a tough ask for whatever team Pochettino puts out – I was at Anfield last week, and Crystal Palace were very good against Liverpool, so they are definitely capable of winning on Sunday.

“It is just down to whether Palace boss Roy Hodgson takes the FA Cup seriously, and I think he probably will give it a go.”