It was a case of déjà-vu for Crystal Palace in their 1-0 defeat by Tottenham according to Roy Hodgson.

A lone Juan Foyth goal on 65-minutes gave the north London side the points in a game that Palace created chances but were unable to convert, a tale similar to their last outings against Chelsea and Arsenal.

“You could cut your work short by quoting everything I said against Arsenal and Chelsea. We’re in exactly the same situation,” said Hodgson.

“The three performances are almost parallel, the team has done extremely well but we haven’t won the game.”

READ: Player ratings from Palace's 1-0 defeat by Tottenham

Hodgson was quick to shut-down critics of his side who say they are not capable of winning without Wilfried Zaha who was sidelined due to injury. Palace have not won in the league when he hasn’t featured since a 3-2 win at Sunderland in September 2016.

“You can counter our good performance with ‘we didn’t score a goal,’ or ‘Wilfried Zaha didn’t play so therefore we lost.’

“I know that’s not true. And anyone who watched the game will realise that. But the fact is we haven’t won a game when we’ve not had Wilf in god knows how long.

“And this is another one to add to that list.”

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With 12 games of the season gone the top five have only lost one game between them to sides outside of the five, Tottenham’s defeat at Watford.

With recent talk of a super champions league across Europe some have suggested that the Premier League is turning in to two separate leagues itself as the gap between those at the summit and the foot of the table increases.

“I think if I was watching that game (Palace v Tottenham), I’d suggest the gap isn’t so big.

“The Arsenal game I would suggest the same, and up until the 65th minute against Chelsea people would say the gap isn’t that big.

“We didn’t lose today because Wilf wasn’t there, we lost because they scored a goal from one of very few chances whereas we didn’t.

“There is a gap that can’t be denied, but I don’t think its two different leagues, albeit teams like ourselves have to give extra good performances to stay in the game and match the opposition's performance. Which we did against Spurs.”

The result leaves Palace teetering above the relegation zone in 16th, separated only by goal difference with Southampton and Cardiff City in 17th and 18th respectively.