An enforced break has been quite an odd one to get through and due to one thing or another, Palace return to action four weeks since the goalless draw up at Newcastle. But it is not all plain sailing as fans have to contend with yet another national train strike, making the first trip to Selhurst in some weeks more difficult than usual.
TIME/ DATE/ VENUE
- 3pm
- 1st October 2022
- Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
PREVIOUS MEETING
The last visit of the Blues to South London was back in February when a last minute goal from Hakim Ziyech stole the points for the visitors in what was a tight affair.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Hakim Ziyech (7.8)
OFFICIALS
- Referee: Chris Kavanagh
- Assistants: Dan Cook, Dan Robathan
- Fourth official: Craig Pawson
- VAR: Stuart Attwell
- Assistant VAR: Scott Ledger.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – James McArthur could be fit enough for a place on the bench while Nathan Ferguson and Jack Butland remain out due to injury.
CHELSEA – Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante are both back in training but are unlikely to feature in this game. Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka miss out due to illness.
DISCIPLINARY THIS SEASON
RED CARDS – Kalidou Koulibaly (1), Conor Gallagher (1)
YELLOW CARDS (3+) – Reece James (3), Kai Havertz (3)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 17/04/2022 Chelsea 2-0 Crystal Palace
- 19/02/2022 Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
- 14/08/2021 Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace
- 10/04/2021 Crystal Palace 1-4 Chelsea
- 03/10/2020 Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 03/08/22 Newcastle 0-0 Palace
- 30/08/22 Palace 1-1 Brentford
- 27/08/22 City 4-2 Palace
- 23/08/22 Oxford 0-2 Palace
- 20/08/22 Palace 3-1 Villa
Last FIVE results for Chelsea;
- 14/09/22 Chelsea 1-1 Salzburg
- 06/09/2022 Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Chelsea
- 03/09/22 Chelsea 2-1 West Ham
- 30/08/22 Southampton 2-1 Chelsea
- 27/08/22 Chelsea 2-1 Leicester
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Chelsea are 7th in the Premier League with 10 points from 6 games played while Palace 16th with 6 points from 6 games.
RECORD AGAINST CHELSEA
- Played 60
- Won 11
- Drawn 15
- Lost 34
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Wilfried Zaha 7.36
- Reece James 7.29
- Joachim Andersen 7.27
- N’Golo Kante 7.20
ONE TO WATCH
RAHEEM STERLING
FORMER CLUBS – Alpha & Omega, Queens Park Rangers, Liverpool, Manchester City
The move to Chelsea in the summer was high profile but the England man has settled in quickly at Stamford Bridge with 3 goals to his name in 6 appearances to date.
KEY CLASH
CHEICK DOUCOURE v N’GOLO KANTE
The midfield battle in this fixture will be key and this match up in particular will be one to watch. Both players are in fine form at the start of the campaign and it will be interesting to see the new Palace midfielder go up against a seasoned Premier League midfielder, should the Frenchman make the starting line up.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Chelsea are on a 10 game winning run in all competitions against Palace, 5 of those were at Selhurst Park
- The last time Palace beat Chelsea was at Selhurst in October 2017
- Palace have not score against Chelsea in 3 consecutive games, the last goal was in a 4-1 defeat at Selhurst in April 2021
- The last meeting between the two was at Wembley in the FA Cup Semi Final, and the less said about that the better
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Wilfried Zaha (4 – 5th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Eberechi Eze (2 – 11th in PL)
- PASSES – Joachim Andersen (351)
- TACKLES – Cheick Doucoure (14)
- TOUCHES – Joachim Andersen (467)
- SHOTS – Wilfried Zaha (15 – 16th in PL)
- SAVES – Vicente Guaita (16 – 13th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Chelsea are the only club to have been eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage the year after winning the competition.
PREDICTION
A return to action for Palace but it is against one of the top sides in the Premier League so the players will need to be ready to go, and we are sure they will be. The opposition will have stretched their legs in European competition since the Eagles were last in action but we expect this to be an exciting game. Here’s to Palace taking a point!
FINAL SCORE: 2-2
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 3/1
- Draw – 5/2
- Away – 20/23
- Both teams to score – 20/23
RESOURCES
