Premier League: Tuchel Targets Palace For Three Big Points

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

The battle for places at the top of the Premier League is heating up and all eyes will be on South London on Saturday evening when Crystal Palace vs Chelsea is the big match.

Fans haven’t yet returned to stadiums in England and Selhurst Park is one of the most hostile places to visit in the league when it’s packed to the rafters, so Blues head coach Thomas Tuchel will push his men to test the Eagles without their 12^th man.

Crystal Palace, under the guidance of the wily Roy Hodgson have climbed to safety thanks to a solid run for form at the crucial stage of the season, while Chelsea suffered a shock defeat last week and must return to winning ways without delay.

The Premier League 2021 betting odds say they can, but the Blues won’t expect any favours from their capital city neighbours.

Talking Points

Out of contract Eagles have done the business

Even though the majority of players in Crystal Palace’s first team squad are about to become free agents at the end of this season, there has been no sign of any lack of loyalty or commitment at Selhurst Park as the Eagles have pulled away from relegation danger in recent weeks.

Wilfried Zaha will feature for Crystal Palace when they take on Chelsea in the Premier League — Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha during the warm up before the match against Everton

Roy Hodgson’s side sits comfortably in 12^th place, on 38 points and 12 clear of the drop zone. With eight games to play, they are probably already safe but their hugely experienced boss won’t allow them to let up anytime soon.

He knows full well that every place he can climb up the Premier League table brings more cash into the coffers.

Over the past six games, his team put in remarkable defensive displays to beat Brighton and draw with Fulham. And as well as beating West Brom, they have taken points from Manchester United and Everton, losing only to Tottenham in that sequence.

The return from injury of Wilfried Zaha makes Palace an entirely different proposition.

Hodgson insists that the Eagles aren’t a one-man team and of course they aren’t. But the Ivory Coast winger gives them an entirely different dimension.

With Zaha, Palace often look like a top 10 team as his pace and trickery make him one of the Premier League’s most dangerous attacking players.

But he has been absent for some key games this season, at times when the Eagles have been looking nervously over their shoulders, though he is still the top scorer with nine goals.

To compliment Zaha’s style is the steel of captain Luka Milivojevic, who’s a formidable opponent who leads the front and has picked up seven yellow cards.

Blues can’t afford another slip-up

Chelsea are one of a handful of teams all chasing a top four place and they suffered a serious and totally unexpected blow last week when they crashed to a 5-2 defeat at the hands of lowly West Brom.

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Serie A

That result, which ended Thomas Tuchel’s unbeaten run as Chelsea head coach, came out of the blue. However, it has loosened their grip on fourth place.

The Blues have a great chance of reaching the semifinals of this season’s Champions League and they are the third favourites here at SBOTOP to win the tournament.

They came through their first leg on Wednesday night after beating Porto FC 2-0 thanks to goals from Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount.

Mount is the club’s joint top scorer in the league with six goals alongside Tammy Abraham and Jorginho, while Timo Werner has five goals and has contributed six assists.

History

Chelsea have had much the better of the head-to-head meetings during the Premier League era – winning 17 of the 22 clashes with Palace while drawing four and losing just once.

And the recent Premier League 2021 results don’t look much better for the Eagles who have lost the last six of these meetings, most recently a 4-0 thumping at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

While Palace have been on a decent run in form after losing just one of the last six, Chelsea have won four all by a 2-0 score-line while they’re also drawn one and lost the one to West Brom.

The Blues are unbeaten in their last seven away from home and I don’t see that run ending at Selhurst Park.

Betting Tip

	Crystal Palace vs Chelsea	Chelsea Asian Handicap -1.25 @ 2.29
	April 11, 00:30 (GMT+8)

The Eagles are at odds of 6.57 to win with Chelsea at 1.52 and the draw at 3.55.

And while Palace have a strong backbone, they often struggle to score goals and I wouldn’t rule out yet another 2-0 win for Chelsea at odds of 6.18.