Relegation-battling Crystal Palace welcome top-ten chasing Chelsea to Selhurst Park in a London derby.
Victory could see Palace climb as high as 13th if can win by two or more goals, whilst Chelsea can go 10th with a win.
Team News
Michael Olise is ruled out until April for Palace after he suffered a recurrence of his hamstring injury in their 4-1 loss at Brighton.
Marc Guehi (knee) is also sidelined whilst Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Joel Ward, Eberechi Eze (all hamstring), Rob Holding (ankle) and Cheick Docoure (Achilles) remain absent.
Chelsea could be without Benoit Badiashile after the defender suffered a groin injury during their FA Cup replay win at Aston Villa in midweek.
Levi Colwill (tendon) and Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) are both back in first team training and could feature if match fit, whilst Robert Sanchez (knee) is back training but unlikely to be risked in this match.
Marc Cucurella (ankle), Reece James, Lesley Ugochukwu (both hamstring), Wesley Fofana (ACL), Romeo Lavia (knock) and Robert Sanchez (knee) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Crystal Palace host Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Monday 12 February at 8pm GMT, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Crystal Palace have lost their last 12 league meetings against Chelsea (L12).
- Chelsea have won each of their last five visits to Palace (W5).
- Crystal Palace have lost two of their last three meetings against Chelsea by a 2-1 result.
- Palace have conceded the opening goal within the opening two minutes in each of their last two home games (W2).
- Chelsea have won two of their three London derbies on the road this season (W2, L1).
Prediction
Currently five points above the relegation zone and without Eze plus Olise, Palace certainly face a difficult task after their awful defensive performance at Brighton, whilst their attack was lacklustre until too late so a huge improvement is required here.
I however don’t expect the absurd rumours of Gareth Southgate replacing Roy Hodgson if Palace lose here to be taken seriously, because no manager in the right mentality would leave the national team to manage a club fighting the drop months before a major tournament.
Chelsea meanwhile showed glimpses of what they can be in a dominant FA Cup replay win at Villa because they had a rare dose of aggression and energy to their attack, whilst their defending was disciplined and cut Villa’s attacking supply.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues however have an annoying habit of being inconsistent but given Palace’s injury issues and form, I can’t see Chelsea losing this otherwise there have to be serious questions about why they can’t build momentum from game to game.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 0-2 Chelsea
Result: Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea
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