Crystal Palace
Chelsea FC
Chelsea FC
Chelsea aiming to bounce back from poor West Brom defeat against solid Crystal Palace
Chelsea to win 2-1
Chelsea suffered the worst defeat of their season last weekend, going down 5-2 against 19th placed West Brom despite scoring the first goal of the match and appearing in control until Thiago Silva was sent off.
That result means that they have been replaced in the top four by fellow London side West Ham, and face a struggle to return with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool closing the gap quickly.
They returned to winning form in midweek, of course, professionally beating Porto by a 2-0 margin to get one foot into the Champions League semi-finals.
Crystal Palace have been solid if unspectacular in recent weeks, losing just once in their last six games, winning two of them.
Their quest for a top half finish appears unlikely due to their inconsistent record, but could surprise one or two teams as we end the final period of the campaign.
Form Guide (all comps): DDLWD
Reasons to be cheerful:
Could keep four consecutive home clean sheets for first time in almost 30 years
Have scored more goals already this season than the whole of last
Reasons to be fearful:
Will be without Batshuayi, who can’t play against his parent club
Have lost their last six league games vs. Chelsea
Crystal Palace have the unfortunate position of having nothing left to play for this season, already being comfortably safe from relegation, but with little hope of pushing up the table to fight for a European place.
This could work against them here, facing a Chelsea side who are pushing as hard as possible for a top four spot.
On the whole, of course, it’s been a good season for Palace. They need just five points from their remaining eight games to equal last season’s tally, and they’ve already scored as many goals, too.
Michy Batshuayi will miss out here, with players unable to play against their parent clubs, although Christian Benteke and Wilf Zaha are likely to continue up front.
Star Man – Christian Benteke
Scored against Spurs last month, and has been involved in eight goals in his last 10 appearances against Chelsea.
Form Guide (all comps): DWWLW
Reasons to be cheerful:
Great record against Palace
Yet to lose in the league under Thomas Tuchel
Reasons to be fearful:
Shocking defeat to West Brom last weekend
Only two away goals from open play in last five matches
Chelsea will look to put last weekend’s disappointing defeat behind them as quickly as possible here, but know that Crystal Palace can cause problems of their own.
Thiago Silva will miss out in central defence after being sent off last weekend, but other than that, Tuchel has a full squad to choose from. Just how he uses it will determine the result here.
The Blues returned to winning form in midweek against Porto, but with the second leg coming up a few days after this game, Tuchel will surely rotate one or two players here. Like last weekend, could this cause complacency?
They are certainly favourites to win this one, and have a fantastic record against Palace in recent years, but must take this game seriously in order to claim three points.
Star Man – Mason Mount
It could be that Mount is rested here, but he has undoubtedly been the star of this Chelsea team recently.
Chelsea to control possession
A low scoring game
Chances at both ends
Both sides are in with a shout here, particularly if Palace can get the ball to the likes of Zaha and Benteke in dangerous areas.
However, Chelsea will be expected to have learned their lesson from last weekend, when they clear didn’t pay enough attention to the problems West Brom could cause.
The Blues are favourites here.
Chelsea to win 2-1
