Premier League: Palace Next for Troubled Chelsea

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace

With just three days to prepare, embattled Chelsea face another London rival in the Premier League when Crystal Palace make the short trip to Stamford Bridge.

Defeat to Fulham on Thursday night made it one win in 11 for Graham Potter’s men and they are unlikely to get an easy ride against Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace.

The Eagles will be hoping to get back on track after falling to three consecutive home defeats, losing 2-1 to Southampton in the FA Cup, and before that taking a 4-0 walloping from Tottenham.

Palace are in 12^th place, three points behind 10th placed Chelsea and with a game in hand, but they’d need to overturn an eight-goal difference to leapfrog their hosts. And while the visitors will be primed to make it hard for their hosts, that surely isn’t going to happen.

Talking Points

Potter has time, but he needs to see improvements

In terms of the title race, the Premier League 2023 betting odds have long since forgotten Chelsea and they are now hoping for an incredible run which might pull them back into top four contention.

The Blues have drifted 10 points behind Manchester United in fourth place, but the Red Devils have a tough assignment in the Manchester Derby this weekend, so that gap could be cut to seven.

Potter knows he needs a spectacular set of Premier League 2023 results and that has to start on Sunday.

But it seems the days of rapid fire sacking at Stamford Bridge may have gone under new owner Todd Boehly. The US tycoon knows he has a talented head coach who is not having the best of luck.

With an injury list that includes both wing-backs, Reece James and Ben Chilwell, midfield anchor N’Golo Kante and creative leaders Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling, this is a team missing five of its most influential players in attack.

Summer recruit Wesley Fofana is also out as well as number one keeper Edouard Mendy. And then on his Chelsea debut, Joao Felix got his marching orders for an over the top lunge on Kenny Tete. Someone needs to tell the Portuguese star that Graham Potter is not Diego Simeone.

The boss will expect his senior players to stand up and pull the less experienced players through this difficult period. Thiago Silva is the one player who hasn’t dropped his standards, as the Brazilian centre-back is calm assured and he can make this team tick when they grow in confidence.

Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic are proven attacking midfielders, while Hakim Ziyech, who was so impressive for Morocco in the World Cup, still has something to prove in domestic football.

These are top quality players and though they are missing some key stars the Blues still have deeper resources than most.

My SBOTOP colleague Brad recently wrote that Chelsea couldn’t afford to lose a London Derby against Fulham and I’m going to echo him here because the Blues really can’t afford to lose this one.

Eagles are looking for consistency  

Vieira won plaudits last season for moulding together an exciting young team which avoided relegation easily despite starting the campaign as favourites to take the drop.

They are sitting comfortably in mid-table again, but any hopes they may kick on have been scuppered by the Eagles’ inconsistency.

Before the World Cup break, Palace beat West Ham and earned an impressive point against Newcastle United, but then lost to struggling Nottingham Forest.

On their return, Crystal Palace beat Bournemouth and then were stuffed by Spurs and so they are back to square one.

Wilfried Zaha, with six goals, remains the Eagles’ best chance of breaking down the Chelsea defence while, at the back, Marc Guehi and Joachim Anderson have formed a strong centre-back partnership.

With 22 points from 17 games, Palace are in decent shape. But with consistency, they would be a top 10 side.

History

Chelsea have been totally dominant in this fixture over the years. Of the 27 encounters in the Premier League era, the Blues have won 22, lost four, and there has been a single draw.

Both teams have suffered four defeats in the last six, with Palace winning the other two while Chelsea managed a win and a draw.

But the Blues are unbeaten against the Eagles in their last 11 meetings and have won the last six with a goal difference of 16 to three. I’m convinced this won’t turn out to be another “safe” bet lost by Potters men.

Betting Tip

At SBOTOP odds of 1.67, this should be the game to pull the Blues out of their malaise, while Palace are available at 4.84 and the draw is 3.44.

The last home game Chelsea had against a team other than Manchester City resulted in a 2-0 win over Bournemouth and I predict a similar outcome here.

And for a long shot bet, the correct scoreline of 2-0 is priced at 6.95.

 

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