Palace Preview - Chelsea - TheEaglesBeak.com

Palace welcome the league leaders Chelsea to Selhurst Park off the back of a devastatingly late defeat at Newcastle last weekend.

The Eagles must put that defeat behind them and look to the game with our neighbours from South West London.

In contract, Jose Mourinho’s men will be looking to keep their title charge alive knowing that Manchester City will be keen on closing the gap having beaten rivals Manchester United on Tuesday night.

The two teams last met in December when a great performance still saw the Eagles lose out to Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. Fernando Torres scored an early goal that was cancelled out by Maroune Chamakh. Brazilian midfielder Ramires quickly secured the three points by firing home only a few minutes later which proved to be the decisive goal.

Palace boss Tony Pulis said recently he believes Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho is one of the best managers in the world but says he is desperate to get one over the ‘special one’ to help the Eagles survival hopes.

Having just scored once in their last five league games, picking up just one point in the process, Palace continue to suffer in front of goal as both Marouane Chamakh and Dwight Gayle are sidelined with injuries. Glenn Murray has netted only once so far in his return from injury with Stoke loanee Cameron Jerome and Aaron Wilbraham being the only other strike options.

Chelsea are without Ramires due to suspension after a red card against Aston Villa. Veteran striker Samuel Eto’o may miss out due to a knock picked up in the demolition of Arsenal last weekend. England international Ashley Cole will definitely miss out due to injury that’s seen him sidelined for the last few weeks.

Here are some statistics from our friends at Who Scored;

Last 4 games between the two teams Chelsea have won all of them
Palace have not scored in either of the two previous games at Selhurst against Chelsea
The aggregate score from the 4 games is Palace 2-9 Chelsea
Form guide – Palace WLDLDL – Chelsea DWWWLW
Form players – Jedinak (7.37), Hazard (7.74)
Top scorers – Chamakh (5), Hazard (14)
Top assists – Hazard (7), Torres (4)
Appearances – Cech (31), Hazard (30), Jedinak (30), Speroni (30)
Bookings – Ramires (8), Chamakh (8)
Shots per game – Eto’o (2.6), Puncheon (2.0)
Pass success – Terry (89.8%), Ledley (79.1%)
Aeriel duels won – Chamakh (5.2), Jedinak (4.5), Cahill (3.8)
Popular prediction – Crystal Palace 0-2 Chelsea