Chelsea will look to stay in the first half of the table when they host Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Palace, who are now in 15th place, will travel to Stamford Bridge shortly, only four points behind their opponents.
Preview (Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace)
Chelsea fans experienced a high and a low last week when their club lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day, as has been the case for them all season. The Wolves were in the game at halftime thanks to some poor first-half decision-making. Most notably by Raheem Sterling in a three-on-one scenario. The home team then capitalized fully on these opportunities. Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea team scored its first goal deep into added time. Christopher Nkunku’s goal was only a consolation as Chelsea lost for the eighth time in the Premier League.
The West Londoners are currently eight points outside of the top six. They must put together a winning streak to prevent the realistic prospect of concentrating on winning the FA Cup or EFL Cup to guarantee a spot in Europe. Chelsea has won its previous two games and is unbeaten in its last five across all competitions. Just three of the team’s nine top-flight matches have taken place at Stamford Bridge. After just one win in 11 games, Roy Hodgson leads his Palace team against Chelsea under continued pressure. Even so, winning consecutive draws against Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City seemed like positive moves.
Losing to Brighton late on was disappointing. Aside from the home loss to Bournemouth, Palace has only lost once. They gave up a lead against Liverpool after Jordan Ayew was controversially sent off. In the other four recent games, Palace has been the underdog. Palace has scored goals in eight of their last nine Premier League games, along with three other clubs.
Team News
Due to the one-game bans for Cole Palmer and Sterling, as well as Lesley Ugochukwu’s hamstring injury against Wolves, Pochettino will have to make at least three changes to his Chelsea starting lineup. At this point in his recuperation, Moises Caicedo or Emilio Fernandez may make a comeback from illness or a hernia, respectively, although Romeo Lavia is unlikely to start given his lack of competitive participation this season. Pochettino is probably going to resist the urge to play Nkunku a little over a week after his long-awaited comeback. Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke should be used in the closing third. Nicolas Jackson and Andrés Broja might stay on the field.
Pochettino may also contemplate playing Ian Maatsen at right-back instead of the recently returning Malo Gusto, given the severity of Chelsea’s injury list. Everechi Eze, the playmaker who played 20 minutes against Brighton and gained more training after suffering a hamstring injury, may be given a call-up by Palace manager Hodgson. That might be the only change, assuming there are no fresh injury concerns. Chris Richards will continue to play in a defensive-midfield role, and none of Palace’s injured players are expected to make a comeback.
Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace
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