Crystal Palace vs Chelsea – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Sreya

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea – Chelsea travel to Selhurst Park on 17th December, Saturday to face Crystal Palace as they aim for their eleventh consecutive English Premier League victory in the latest edition of the London derby.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea have opened up a six point lead on the top of the league standings, as they have forty points after sixteen games while closest rivals Arsenal are on thirty four points and have a difficult fixture against Manchester City on Sunday.

Crystal Palace, sixteenth in league standings with fifteen points, pulled off a surprise 3-0 victory over Southampton two weeks ago, but that was their only win in the last six games.

Team News

Pape Souare, Jonathan Benteke, Connor Wickham, Steve Mandanda, James Tomkins and Bakary Sako are sidelined through injuries for Crystal Palace while Loic Remy is unfit.

Chelsea will be without the injured John Terry. Kurt Zouma might be in matchday squad but Marco van Ginkel is still regaining match fitness. Oscar is unlikely to feature in light of the news that the Brazilian is about to secure a transfer move to a Chinese club. Eden Hazard will return, having missed out Chelsea’s last game.

Crystal Palace Possible Starting Lineup: Wayne Hennessey, Martin Kelly, Scott Dann, Damien Delaney, Joel Ward, Joe Ledley, James McArthur, Andros Townsend, Jason Puncheon, Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke.

Chelsea Possible Starting Lineup: Thibaut Courtois, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Victor Moses, N’Golo Kante, Cesc Fabregas, Marcos Alonso, Pedro, Eden Hazard, Diego Costa.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Crystal Palace vs Chelsea H2H Stats, Chelsea have won three and lost two of their last five league encounters with Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew’s side have failed to win nine of their last ten matches in the Premier League.

With the Eagles having conceded at least two goals in seven of their previous eight matches, a 2-1 win for Chelsea is the most likely result.