Crystal Palace v Chelsea – LIVE BUILD UP

The Eagles host Chelsea at Selhurst Park this evening in the final Premier League game of the weekend, and here is our build up ahead of kick off at 8pm.

 

LIVE UPDATES

 

4.50pm – That’s it from us for this afternoon. Thank you for joining us. We’re about to make our way up to Selhurst. Safe journey to all, and let’s get behind the lads on the pitch tonight.

 

4.47pm – Don’t forget to check out our match preview which went live over the weekend.

Chelsea Next Up For Palace After Week Of Speculation

 

4.45pm – BBC Sport this week asked me whether Palace are good enough to stay up, or too good to go down. Below is what I told them….

“The fallout from the debacle at Brighton last weekend has run all week, with so much speculation it is hard to know what, if anything, is going on behind the scenes.

From the outside, the club look very disorganised and that stems from last summer and the moment we reappointed Roy Hodgson for “another season”. It’s a completely wasted season and we should have brought someone in after the 10-game stint Roy had to see out the last campaign after the sacking of Patrick Vieira.

The problem with Palace is that without Eberechi Eze or Michael Olise, the side looks so one-dimensional. Having already lost Cheick Doucoure from the midfield for the season, the cracks began to appear. The injury-prone duo have been in and out of the side, and now Marc Guehi is too. Take the two best players out of any Premier League side and they would struggle, let alone four.

We should just get through but that really does rely on Eze being back in the side in a couple of weeks. If he spends any more time out – and with Olise in the treatment room for a couple of months – things could get a little tense. They will have to find of way of utilising the talent that is remaining in the squad, such as the newly arrived Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca.

It’s hard to feel comfortable wanting Roy sacked after all he has done for us and he has been put in a very difficult position by the ownership structure, which has received a lot of criticism of late.

We are good enough to stay up – just – but we are not too good to go down, if that makes any sense whatsoever.”

 

4.41pm – Palace sit just 5 points above the bottom three in 15th with 24 points from 23 games played, while Chelsea are 11th with 31 points.

 

4.40pm – The visitors have doubts over Levi Colwill, Trevor Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile.

 

4.38pm – Missing for Palace tonight are Ebere Eze, Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Cheick Doucoure, Rob Holding, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. Joel Ward could return with a place on the bench.

 

4.36pm – And here are some Palace statistics heading into the game…

Palace have lost 3 of their past 5vtop-flight fixtures but could equal the club’s Premier League record of 3 home league wins in a row.

Palace have not kept a clean sheet for 12 league matches, the longest such run in the top flight.

Manager Roy Hodgson has lost 16 Premier League games versus Chelsea, more than against any other club.

Half of Palace’s 26 Premier League goals this season have been scored or assisted by at least one of Eberechi Eze or Michael Olise, who are both out injured.

Palace have won just 1 of the 6vleague matches in which neither Eze nor Olise have started this season: a 2-0 win at Burnley in November.

Jordan Ayew has lost all 15 Premier League games he has played against Chelsea (for Villa, Swansea and Palace), which is a competition record.

 

4.34pm – That’s the comments from the managers press conferences. Now for some head-to-head statistics….

Chelsea could win 13 league matches in a row against the same opponent for the first time in their history.

For Palace, it would also be a club record-extending 13th consecutive Premier League defeat against one club.

There has not been a draw in 26 meetings since it finished goalless in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge in March 1995.

 

4.32pm“Roy Hodgson is my friend, I admire him, he’s an unbelievable coach. He is working really well. There’s always the pressure when you lose one or two games in a row. There’s no doubt he will be successful with Palace, hopefully after our game.” – Mauricio Pochettino

 

4.30pm“We can’t be without the fans because the players need more support and encouragement than ever. We can only hope that fans can understand the situation and give the support and backing that they’ve given in my five years at the club.” – Roy Hodgson

 

4.25pm – On increasing pressure Hodgson faces from fans: “We’re in the business to coach a team to be the best team, but importantly to give the fans something they want to see and be proud of. When the fans turn, it’s the worst possible scenario. It does hurt but it’s the fact of life and we can’t change it with no words of mine or explanation.”

 

4.20pm – Hodgson goes on to says “there’s been no specific talk of the future” with Palace chairman Steve Parish but they “speak all the time.”

 

4.15pm – On injuries to Eze, Olise and Guehi: “We have lost all three of them – It’s a massive blow and another element of incredible bad luck.

 

4.10pm – Hodgson has defended the club’s medical staff, who have also faced criticsm, saying they had “done a remarkable job getting him back into any playing position” in the first place.

 

4.05pm – In response to the criticism aimed at him for putting Olise on when they were already trailing 3-0: “Injuries do happen and that’s the bottom line. When you’ve got a player like that on the bench, you can’t say to sit there and watch the game – that’s unfair.”

 

4.00pm – Hodgson confirmed Michael Olise has picked up “another serious injury, which is absolutely devastating for him, the club and everyone.

 

3.55pm“There’s a lot of points and a lot of potential wins. These guys will come back and this team will be stronger, with the addition of the two we’ve signed.” – Roy Hodgson

 

3.50pm“The club has solved the temporary absence of Cheick, because it is still temporary, as he will get back before the end of the season. It is a long injury, but we solved that with Adam Wharton. We have been very impressed with his early work here. He does exactly those things that I’m talking about, that we thought we were missing. I thought his debut against Brighton was good as it was for Daniel Munoz, so that’s a bright spot. With these two, and getting the other players back, as we will, because don’t forget, this is a bad moment, but we are still 15 games from the end of the season which is quite a lot of games.” – Roy Hodgson

 

3.45pm “Cheick has been a miss. He’s a link man. He was always there, he was the one you could link the play around. When you had the ball at the back, you could get out through him. When you had the ball at the front, he’d be there to get the next pass and keep things flowing along – and that’s what Doucouré actually did for us.” – Roy Hodgson

 

3.40pm – Let us kick off with Roy Hodgson’s views from the press conference.

 

3.30pm – Welcome to our build up to the London derby at Selhurst Park this evening.

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