Mark Lawrenson on whether Spurs will win first game at new stadium vs Palace

BBC football pundit Mark Lawrenson has given his prediction ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace.

Tomorrow evening’s fixture will be the first time that a competitive fixture has been held at the brand new 62,062 capacity seater stadium.

While fans are excited at the prospect of watching their side finally return home to N17, it couldn’t have come at a worse time from a form point of view.

Spurs go into the fixture having only managed to pick up a single point from the last fifteen available to them and are now in a battle to finish in the top four this season to ensure another campaign of Champions League football.

After a run of seven consecutive wins in Premier League London derby matches, Spurs have won just one of their last four such matches (D1 L2).

Lawrenson, however, feels that Spurs will begin life at their new stadium with a well overdue win.

He told BBC Sport: I was at Anfield on Sunday and thought Tottenham played really well in the second half, and dominated after making some positive changes. They looked the better side.

“At the very least, Spurs should have had a point but their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris chose a very bad time to make a terrible mistake. It was a howler, because it was such a soft header.

“Still, Tottenham looked strong and, apart from Eric Dier and Harry Winks, most of their first-choice side are now fit, which is good news because they need a good run-in to secure a top-four place.

“Palace have spent most of the season in the bottom half of the table, but they are as good as safe after beating Huddersfield on Saturday.

“One win from their last seven games will probably be enough to make sure the Eagles stay up mathematically, but I don’t think they will get it here.

“Lawro’s prediction: 2-1.”