Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
Date: 30/12/2018
K/O: 12.00
Venue: Selhurst Park
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Referee: Craig Pawson
It has been a holiday season of mixed results for both Crystal Palace and Chelsea, with both sides picking up wins but also dropping points in home fixtures where they would have expected to pick up all three points.
In truth, it’s a reflection of both sides form since they last met each other at the start of November. In the eight games since Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, they have won four, lost three, and drawn once; including ending Manchester City’s unbeaten league record, but emphatically losing to rivals Tottenham, as well as costly shock defeats to Wolves and Leicester City.
Palace on the other hand have performed well in most games since then, but they have not exactly got the results from them. They have won three of the eight games, lost three and drawn the final two, including a heavy defeat to rivals Brighton, a truly unexpected win away at Manchester City, but also a missed chance to capitalise on that win by failing to beat Cardiff at home on Boxing Day.
Between the two, the history is certainly more of a shade of blue, than one of red and blue. From the last 32 league games between the London rivals, dating back to 1982, Palace have only beaten Chelsea on five occasions, four of which have come since 2014. The most recent victory came in this fixture last season, when a Wilfried Zaha strike was enough to win it for the South Londoners after a Tiemoué Bakayoko equaliser ruled out an early César Azpilicueta own goal.
Chelsea find themselves holding on to the fourth Champions League spot, two points clear of fellow Londoners Arsenal. They are now only four points behind champions Manchester City after the Citizens have lost three out of the last four games, but they are slowly losing touch with the top two as Liverpool and Tottenham continue their respective winning streaks. Palace could have found themselves build a gap of four points between themselves and Newcastle if they had beaten Cardiff last time out. However, in more positive news, they are now seven points clear of Burnley in 17th as the bottom three continue in their struggle to find a result.
Team News
Crystal Palace: The number one spot in the Palace goal is up for debate again. Wayne Hennessey has now fully recovered from his back spasms which have kept him out so far over Christmas, yet with the in-form replacement of Vincente Guaita picking up two clean sheets from his last three games, he may find it difficult to get the shirt back from the Spaniard.
There should also be a return to the squad for versatile defender Martin Kelly, who has recovered from his groin strain he sustained at the end of the win over Leicester City. The only absentee is Christian Benteke, who nears a return that may come after the FA Cup third round game against Grimsby. It will be a welcome return, as the Eagles are still struggling to make their numerous chances count, playing without a prolific striker since the injury to Benteke.
Chelsea: The big news coming out after the Blues last game with Watford was the early withdrawal of Pedro with a hamstring strain. He has been ruled out for at least 10 days which leaves Maurizio Sarri with options for how he could line-up on Sunday. He is on record saying he’s liked Eden Hazard’s performances as a ‘false nine’, so could play Ruben Loftus-Cheek out wide, or could revert back to type and go with either Olivier Giroud or the returning Alvaro Morata up front with Hazard going back out to the wide left position.
Two who could miss out are Callum Hudson-Odoi and Andreas Christiansen, both with hamstring injuries. Although they will probably be fit enough for the trip to Palace, they will likely not be risked with another game only a few days later. There was no further details provided by Sarri on the fitness of Victor Moses, who has been out with an unspecified injury since the second week of December. Long term absentee Marco van Ginkel still has no return date for his return from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Predicted Starting XIs
Crystal Palace (4-4-2): Guaita; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, van Aanholt; McArthur, Milivojević, Kouyaté, Meyer; Townsend, Zaha
Chelsea (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kanté, Jorginho, Barkley; Willian, Giroud, Hazard
Score Prediction: Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 2
Since Crystal Palace’s promotion to the top flight in 2013, there have been no draws between the two sides. In fact, you have to go all the way back to March 1995 for the last time it ended all level between them. With the influence Hazard has over every game he plays, Chelsea should be too strong for Palace, and just edge it by a single goal.
