Crystal Palace face a difficult test against London rivals, Chelsea as the Eagles look to end their rut.
Victory would lift Palace up to 12th in the table, whilst Chelsea can climb to fourth with a win for at least a few hours.
Team News
Ismaila Sarr is available for Palace following his return from international duty for Senegal who won the Africa Cup of Nations.
Nathaniel Clyne (adductor) and Daniel Munoz (knee) could also feature but Eddie Nketiah (muscle), Cheick Doucoure (knee), Daichi Kamada (hamstring), Rio Cardines, (adductor) and Caleb Kporha (back) remain absent.
Chelsea will be without Dario Essugo after he suffered an unspecified injury in training.
Filip Jorgensen (unspecified) is also ruled out but Enzo Fernandez (illness) and Cole Palmer (thigh) are set to return.
Tosin Adarabioyo (hamstring), Romeo Lavia (quad), Levi Colwill (ACL) and Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension) are still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Palace host Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Sunday 25 January at 2pm GMT, live on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Palace are winless in their last 16 league meetings against Chelsea (D3, L13).
- Chelsea have avoided defeat in their last seven league visits to Palace (W6, D1).
- Palace have never drawn four consecutive meetings against Chelsea across all competitions.
- Palace have kept one clean sheet in their last eight league matches (W1, D2, L5).
- Cole Palmer’s last two league goals for Chelsea came from the penalty spot.
Prediction
Having endured a miserable rut without Sarr’s presence in attack, Palace certainly will be glad to have him back such is his attacking impact but their defensive play needs to be much better than it was in the second half of their 2-1 loss at Sunderland.
Chelsea meanwhile really should of dispatched Pafos more easily than they did in their 1-0 Champions League win such was the difference in squad quality, yet lacked creativity at times to break down a resilient low block from the Cypriot side so I expect a serious response here.
Palace however have had a week to regroup and adapt to how they defensively go forward without Marc Guehi following his move to Manchester City, otherwise this could be tough against Chelsea’s strong attacking play but I do think that they somehow will grind out a draw.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Crystal Palace 1-3 Chelsea
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