Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Preview, Prediction, Team News and Confirmed Lineups

Out of form Chelsea head to South London to take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, and we’ve got the latest team news and confirmed lineups, as well as a prediction alongside our preview.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Preview

Having extended their winless run across all competitions to three straight matches last time out, Chelsea return to Premier League action with a trip to South London to take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Since beating Shamrock Rovers in their final Conference League league phase match just over three weeks back, the Blues have drawn with Everton and have lost back-to-back matches to Fulham and, most recently, Ipswich.

Enzo Maresca’s side were in second place prior to this poor string of results, but they now find themselves in fourth place in the table, 10 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, while Arsenal and Nottingham Forest are also ahead of them in second and third place.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are down in 15th place in the English top-flight table on 20 points after recording four wins, eight draws and seven defeats across 19 matches this term, leaving them just five points clear of the relegation zone.

Last time out, the Eagles ended a three game winless run with a narrow 2-1 win over bottom of the table Southampton. Oliver Glasner’s side initially went 1-0 down, however goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Eberechi Eze either side of the half-time whistle were enough to claim a vital three points.

Saturday’s clash will be the second time that Palace and Chelsea have faced off this term, with the reverse fixture ending in a 1-1 stalemate at Stamford Bridge in early September. Despite that being a decent result for the Eagles, historically, they have a poor record in this fixture, with the Blues winning 14 of their last 15 meetings.

Crystal Palace Team News

Injured trio Adam Wharton (groin), Will Hughes (foot) and Franco Umeh-Chibueze (thigh) are ruled out due to their respective concerns, while Rob Holding remains frozen out of Glasner’s first-team squad.

Trevoh Chalobah is also unavailable, as he is ineligible to face his parent club. Matheus Franca has returned to training after recovering from a groin issue, however he remains doubtful for Chelsea’s visit.

In more positive news, the Eagles will be able to welcome back key defender Marc Guehi after the England international missed the win over Southampton due to a one-match suspension.

Chelsea Team News

Meanwhile, in the Blues camp, all of Wesley Fofana (thigh), Mykhailo Mudryk (suspended), Benoit Badiashile (unspecified) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (knock) are ruled out of the trip to Selhurst Park.

Reece James has potential to make a return, with Maresca stating that the right-back is ‘ready for minutes’, while Romeo Lavia is back in training and is ‘very close’ to being fit.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Confirmed Lineups

Crystal Palace Confirmed Lineup:

Henderson, Richards, Lacroix, Guéhi, Muñoz, Doucouré, Lerma, Mitchell, Sarr, Eze, Mateta

Chelsea Confirmed Lineup:

Sanchez, Gusto, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer, Jackson, Sancho

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Prediction

Despite their poor form over the Christmas period, the UK’s best football betting sites still see Chelsea as clear favourites to claim all three points against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.

We at SportsCasting agree with the bookmakers’ assessment of the fixture and expect the Blues to get back on track with a victory over the Eagles on the road, but only by a narrow margin.

Palace have scored in eight of their last nine matches, including in games against Manchester City, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Arsenal, so we believe that there’s a high likelihood that they get on the scoresheet, however we’re backing Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho and co. to combine to drag the visitors over the line.

Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-2 Chelsea