With no wins in seven league games and having not beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge since 2017, everything points towards a home win. It is down to Roy Hodgson and his players to ensure a different outcome.
MATCH INFORMATION
- 7.30pm – 27th December 2023
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Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road, London SW6 1HS
PREVIOUS MEETING
Palace made the short trip back in January and lost out to Graham Potter’s Chelsea by a single goal from Kai Havertz shortly after the break in what was a tightly contested affair.
MAN OF THE MATCH – Hakim Ziyech (8.5)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Michael Salisbury. Assistants: Adam Nunn, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Tim Robinson. VAR: Chris Kavanagh. Assistant VAR: Natalie Aspinall.
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – Cheick Doucoure, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Joel Ward, Sam Johnstone, Rob Holding, Odsonne Edouard are all expected to continue to miss out through injury.
CHELSEA – Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, Ben Chilwell, Enzo Fernandez, Trevor Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, and Carney Chukwuemeka are injured. Romeo Lavia, Levi Colwill and Chukwunonso Madueke are doubts.
DISCIPLINARY RECORD
RED CARDS – Jordan Ayew (1), Conor Gallagher (1), Reece James (1), Malo Gusto (1)
YELLOW CARDS (4+) – Nicolas Jackson (8), Raheem Stering (5), Cole Palmer (5), Marc Cucurella (5), Jordan Ayew (4), Joachim Andersen (4), Joel Ward (4), Enzo Fernandez (4)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 15/01/23 Chelsea 1-0 Palace
- 01/10/22 Palace 1-2 Chelsea
- 17/04/22 Chelsea 2-0 Palace
- 19/02/22 Palace 0-1 Chelsea
- 14/08/21 Chelsea 3-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 21/12/23 Palace 1-1 Brighton
- 16/12/23 City 2-2 Palace
- 09/12/23 Palace 1-2 Liverpool
- 06/12/23 Palace 0-2 Bournemouth
- 03/12/23 West Ham 1-1 Palace
Last FIVE results for Chelsea;
- 24/12/23 Wolves 2-1 Chelsea
- 19/12/23 Chelsea 1-1 Newcastle
- 16/12/23 Chelsea 2-0 Sheffield United
- 10/12/23 Everton 2-0 Chelsea
- 06/12/23 Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea
LEAGUE POSITION
Heading into the fixture, Palace are 15th in the Premier League 1ith 18 points from 18 games played, while Chelsea are 10th with 22.
RECORD AGAINST CHELSEA
- Played 62
- Won 11
- Drawn 15
- Lost 36
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Eberechi Eze 7.17
- Michael Olise 7.13
- Conor Gallagher 7.07
- Raheem Sterling 6.98
ONE TO WATCH
CONOR GALLAGHER
FORMER CLUBS – Epsom Eagles, Charlton Athletic (loan), Swansea City (loan), West Bromwich Albion (loan), Crystal Palace (loan)
We knoe only too well what he can do in a game from experience playing for Palace and against us. The Chelsea captain is rumoured to be available in January but it is hard to see that considering he has been handed the captains armband several times this season.
KEY CLASH
JEFFERSON LERMA v CONOR GALLAGHER
The outcome of this game will very much depend on who wins the midfield batte and the former Eagle will be up against the Colombian international who has impressed in his first season at Palace.
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Odsonne Edouard (6 – 12th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Jordan Ayew/ Jean-Philippe Mateta (3)
- PASSES – Joachim Andersen (1071 – 18th in PL)
- TACKLES – Tyrick Mitchell (41 – 15th in PL)
- TOUCHES – Joachim Andersen (1323 – 17th in PL)
- SHOTS – Odsonne Edouard (39 – 14th in PL)
- FOULS – Jordan Ayew (29 – 6th in PL)
- DISPOSSESSED – Jordan Ayew (49 – 1st in PL)
- SAVES – Sam Johnstone (34 – 17th in PL)
- CLEARANCES – Joachim Andersen (89 – 2nd in PL)
- BIG CHANCES MISSED – Jordan Ayew/ Odsonne Edouard (4)
TEB PREDICTION
Perhaps the Blues have given us a false sense of security by reaching the League Cup semi final stage by beating Newcastle and following that up with a defeat against Wolves. They do have a growing injury list which has hindered them and maybe Palace could cause a surprise just like at the Etihad last weekend. We would probably take a third draw in a row if we can top that off with a win against Brentford to see out 2023.
FINAL SCORE: 1-1
RESOURCES
