Chelsea will be hoping to boost their top four hopes when they travel across London to face Crystal Palace on Sunday at 2pm.
The Blues sit two points outside the top four having ended a long winless run last weekend.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Estevao, Palmer, Neto; Pedro.
Liam Rosenior’s men are in an important period, also fighting for a spot in the Champions League last 16. And Chelsea have a good record against Crystal Palace.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their past 16 games against Crystal Palace, winning 13. However, the three draws have come in the past three meetings.
Chelsea team news vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea were able to slightly rotate for their Champions League win over Pafos in midweek. There were also some injury absentees, but Chelsea will hope to have them available.
Palmer was the main absentee, missing the win due to a slight knock. However, after the win, Rosenior said that Palmer had a good chance to start against Palace. He should return to the No.10 role, with Enzo Fernandez dropping back to partner Moises Caicedo.
Reece James should then drop to full-back, ahead of Malo Gusto, with Marc Cucurella on the left. Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana should be the centre-back pairing, with Tosin Adarabioyo out injured.
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Estevao once again impressed from the bench and will be pushing for a start on the right, with Pedro Neto moving over to the left. Joao Pedro is likely to lead the line, with Delap starting in midweek.
Robert Sanchez had to come off the bench against Pafos to replace the injured Filip Jorgensen. So the Spanish shot-stopper should regain his spot in goal.
Romeo Lavia and Levi Colwill are also out injured, with the latter still expected to miss the remainder of the season.
A lead no one wants to take
The meeting between these two sides earlier this season ended goalless, albeit in controversial circumstances. Chelsea have only failed to score in one of their 16 Premier League away games against Crystal Palace. But they may want the Eagles to score first.
There’s an interesting stat shared by these two going into this game. And it’s not a positive won. Crystal Palace have dropped 39 ponts from winning positions in the Premier League under Oliver Glasner. Only three teams have dropped more during that time. That includes three points dropped last time out against Sunderland.
Chelsea aren’t too far behind on that list, with 36 points dropped from winning positions since 24th February 2024. More worryingly, though, is the fact that 15 of those points dropped from winning positions have come this season. Only Bournemouth (18) have dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League.
Now, just two of those points dropped have come away from home. But it was in a London derby against Brentford.