Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Date: 10/04/2021
K/O: 17:30
Venue: Selhurst Park
Referee: Michael Oliver
TV: Sky Sports Premier League/Main Event
One of the lesser-talked-about London derby’s takes place at Selhurst Park, where Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace, following their first blight under Thomas Tuchel last week.
Thiago Silva did get a red card, yes, but Chelsea conceded five against West Bromwich Albion last weekend. That was real. Seemingly it was a once-off as the Blues managed a 2-0 victory away from home in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against FC Porto mid-week. Although, it wasn’t the most convincing, or dominative, performance that we have become accustomed to since Tuchel took over at the end of January.
For now, Tuchel’s first defeat as Chelsea coach will be seen as a minor detour on a road that has been smooth, well-constructed and built on solid foundations. Tuchel has, in his short tenure thus far, built a high-functioning Chelsea team and this should not be discounted on the back of one loss.
Their opponents this weekend are Crystal Palace. Much has been said about their virtual non-appearances following the restart last season as they collected just one point from their last eight games. Coincidentally, their best performance of that period came at home to Chelsea where head coach Roy Hodgson seemed to release their ‘defence-first’ shackles. And it made for an entertaining 90 minutes that ultimately ended in a 2-3 Chelsea victory.
That match against Chelsea was sandwiched in-between several fixtures against the league’s best defensive sides, both statistically and functionally. For all those other fixtures, Hodgson maintained his rigid, structured approach, but this was altered against Chelsea.
A Frank Lampard-coached defence is quite obviously less sturdy than one directed by Tuchel. It is also most likely why Hodgson was willing to release the shackles against Chelsea that day, but he may not be as willing to do so this time around.
Potentially, following West Brom’s fortunes – possibly dictated by Silva’s red card – may inspire a different approach to the defensive-minded one Palace have adopted more so in recent times. Coupled with the high availability of attacking options, who are desperate to prove themselves amidst doubts over their futures at the club, this may push Hodgson to test what steel Chelsea have left.
No doubt, fans will be imploring the head coach to do so. Considering Palace’s quite insipid performance against Chelsea in their 4-0 loss earlier this season; a different set of tactics may be required.
An improved performance, both offensively and defensively, meant Palace looked the better side for the majority of their one-goal draw with Everton last week. Momentum that will hopefully carry into a tougher fixture this week.
Chelsea seem to have had Palace’s number over recent seasons after a (short) ataxic period against the Eagles. Through three different coaches, Chelsea have tasted victory in all of their last six Premier League outings against Palace, which followed consecutive Palace victories. Not since 2017/18’s drought-breaking victory – after seven goalless defeats to start their season – has Hodgson taken any points off Chelsea.
All eyes, however, will most likely look to the Chelsea line-up. By the end of Saturday’s fixture against Palace, Tuchel will have coached three games in the past week with another two to come over the next six days – the second-leg against Porto and an FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City. This short turnaround may tempt him into resting some bona fide starters, rotate his squad and allow lesser-played players a chance to prove themselves. This could shorten the odds in Palace’s favour, only slightly, though, as Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso – amongst other heavily-rotated players – have no issue in ‘turning it on’ without consistent playing time.
Team News
Crystal Palace
Tyrick Mitchell returned to the bench last week after completely rehabilitating a muscle injury. Patrick van Aanholt’s defensive insecurities may see him benched, although the Dutch international’s attacking width may be beneficial if Eberechi Eze is to be pushed more centrally as he was last week.
The availability of both Nathaniel Clyne and James McCarthy remains uncertain with no updates from the club over the last week. Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins and James McCarthur are still out with injury.
Michy Batshuayi’s potentially form-inducing equaliser last week – his first goal for the club in over two months – has come at an inopportune time with the Belgian unavailable to feature against his parent club, Chelsea.
Chelsea
After the two yellow cards and subsequent red card last week, Thiago Silva will serve a one-match suspension making him unavailable this weekend. He remains Chelsea’s only absentee after another injury-free week. As mentioned, Tuchel will most likely rotate some key members in his squad to keep them fresh for the busy week ahead.
Predicted Starting XIs
Crystal Palace (4-4-2): Guaita; Ward, Kouyaté, Cahill, Mitchell; Ayew, Milivojevic, Riedewald, Eze; Benteke, Zaha
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Christensen, Zouma; James, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Ziyech, Giroud, Pulisic
Score Prediction: Crystal Palace 1–2 Chelsea
Crystal Palace were impressive last week against Everton but struggled when trying to penetrate the final third. They should have enough flare and pace to trouble Chelsea, but the visitors should prove too strong and quality performances from those being rotated will be expected to ensure they stay in the frame.
