Crystal Palace take the short trip across the river to face off against Chelsea in a London Derby. Both teams will be looking to better their previous result in the Premier League.

The Blues will be keen to put a challenging week behind them as they rescued a point against West Brom having been 3-0 down at half-time. The week went from bad to worse on Tuesday evening as Frank Lampard's side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Tottenham Hotspur on penalties.

The Eagles had a tough home fixture against Everton losing 2-1, thanks to goals from in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison. However there was a positive for Palace as this season they seem to be getting the hang of scoring which was a major flaw for them last season.

Chelsea's big summer signings such as Timo Werner and Kai Havertz will be a big threat to Palace but with Wilfried Zaha in the side, anything can happen for the Eagles.

  • Team News

New goalkeeper Edouard Mendy could be in contention to start for Chelsea after Kepa Arrizabalaga's uninspiring performances convinced Frank Lampard that  the shot-stopper needed replacing.

Werner could be a doubt after he was unable to take a penalty during the shootout against Tottenham due to a cramp, but he is expected to recover in time.

Christian Pulisic is in the squad but he will start from the bench, however, for new signing Hakim Ziyech, he is in contention to make his debut for the Blues after the international break.

Youngster Billy Gilmour is a long-term absentee whilst Marcos Alonso isn't expected to feature due to a half-time row with Lampard against West Brom. Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have been linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge so they're not expected to play either.

Palace remain short of defensive options - Gary Cahill, James Tomkins, Patrick Van Aanholt and Nathan Ferguson will fail to make this game for the Eagles, but they are all back in some capacity of training.

Jeffrey Schlupp is out after picking up a muscle strain last weekend which could mean that Eberechi Eze starts again for Palace. Scott Dann and Connor Wickham won't be fit for this fixture.

  • Predicted Lineups

Chelsea possible XI: Mendy, Reece James, Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Ben Chilwell, Jorginho, N'golo Kante, Mason Mount, Havertz, Werner and Tammy Abraham.

Crystal Palace possible XI: Vicente Guaita, Joel Ward, Cheikhou Kouyate, Mamadou Sakho, Tyrick Mitchell, Andros Townsend, James McCarthy, James McArthur, Eze, Zaha and Jordan Ayew.

  • Form Guide

Chelsea have won, lost and drawn in their three Premier League games so far this season. Palace have done better winning twice and losing once so far this season.

In these two sides last five meetings, Chelsea have prevailed, winning all of their meetings against the Eagles. Palace will be looking to break the Blues' unbeaten record against them, as they could soon prove to be a potential bogey team.

Palace haven't won against the West London outfit since October 2017 when Roy Hodgson just took over as Palace manager when former manager Frank de Boer went winless and goalless in his short reign. Palace won 2-1 thank to an own goal from Cesar Azpilicueta and a Zaha winner.

  • Ones to Watch

Chelsea - Timo Werner

Werner scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea against Tottenham and he will be hoping that the floodgates come soon after. The forward will be full of confidence and his pace and finishing ability will be hard to deal with.

Embed from Getty Images

Crystal Palace - Eberechi Eze

Eze was very bright as he made his first full debut against Everton last weekend. He played a big part in the chances that Palace had to score and he was very positive right from the first whistle. A bright spark for Palace who is sure to show more of his talents against the Blues this Saturday.

Embed from Getty Images

  • Previous meetings

Crystal Palace 2-3 Chelsea (07/07/2020)

The two most recently met back in July when the season had recently restarted due to its suspension back in March 2020, due to COVID-19.

Olivier Giroud opened the scoring after just six minutes when Cahill went down under injury, that gave Willian the chance to cut the ball back to the Frenchman to slot home.

Willian then got his second assist of the game, giving the ball to Pulisic on the left-hand side, before the American shifted the ball onto his left foot to score at the near post.

2-0 down and Palace were running out of ideas. Zaha, however, had other ideas, he gathered the ball in midfield and fired a thunderbolt out of nowhere, giving Kepa no chance in the Chelsea goal.

Former on-loan Palace player, Loftus-Cheek, seemed to have spoiled any chances of a comeback when he set up Abraham for a smart finish past Guaita.

However, Palace weren't giving up and Van Aanholt set up Christian Benteke for an easy finish to set up a grandstand finish to a thrilling game at Selhurst Park.

In the dying stages of the game, Palace came agonisingly close to an equaliser when Dann's header was superbly saved by Kepa but it just wasn't meant to be for the Eagles.

  • Where to watch on TV

UK residents will be able to watch the game live on BT Sport 1, kick-off time 12:30 pm with coverage starting at 11:30 am.

There are multiple ways to get BT Sport. If you already have BT broadband, you can add BT TV and Sport from just £15 per month.

You can also add the 'Big Sport' package for £40 per month which includes BT Sport and 11 Sky Sports channels via a NOW TV pass.

  • Prediction

This is a difficult game to call as Chelsea have struggled defensively of late and conceding three goals to newly-promoted West Brom is not good enough for a team with future title ambitions.

Mendy's arrival provided hope for the Blues defence but Silva and Zouma will have to work on their partnership if they are to avoid conceding in a simiar fashion like they did last weekend.

Palace were very unlucky to have not snatched at least a point last weekend against Everton, as they were hard done by with a harsh controversial decision against Ward when the ball struck his arm.

That incident will drive Palace in this game and Chelsea's backline gives Zaha, Eze and Ayew the confidence to breach it. This game will be tight and both sides will be hard to separate.

Prediction: Chelsea 2-2 Crystal Palace

VAVEL Logo
About the author