England Premier League
Saturday 19th February 2022
Kick off at 3pm GMT
Venue: Selhurst Park
Match Preview:
Crystal Palace are in 13th place with 26 points, and the way things have been going this campaign Patrick Vieira’s side will surely be fine for survival. Although the impact of his arrival seems to have settled down now and it is clear that the club will not be challenging for a European place. A successful season would now be to finish in the top 10 but the club are being hampered by too many draws and there have been three in the past five games.
There have been two matches in a row coming into this game where results have felt uninspired. A draw against Brentford and Norwich, to some, could be looked at as 4 points dropped although forward Wilfried Zaha has been lively and should be again at the weekend.
For Chelsea this moment belongs to more silverware for the club as they took a break from playing in the Premier League and won the World Club Cup beating Palmeiras 2-1 after extra time. It was a huge moment for the Blues who had never won the competition and really had to dig deep to get the win over the South Americans. It means a lot because the club surely won’t be winning the league title this season and the remainder of the campaign will be about consolidating 3rd place.
As it stands Chelsea are behind Manchester City by a whopping 16 points and only have one game in hand. Even Liverpool in 2nd are seven points to the good. So the league is over for them but now they have to continue to focus in the league because they have to finish in the top 4. At this time they should do but the reality is that there are five clubs on the charge and 4th placed Manchester United are just four points behind Chelsea although the Blues have a game in hand, but that looks like a fine margin at this stage of the season.
Form for Chelsea is not good with just 1 win in their last 5 games and their recent results have been littered with draws, it has been their title undoing as they have only lost 3 games so far in this campaign. Their last result was encouraging though as they beat Tottenham 2-0 at home. On the road this season Thomas Tuchel’s side have been solid with seven wins from 12 games although recent form has been worrying with just one win in five and no wins in their last two trips when they played Manchester City and Brighton. However along with Manchester City and Wolves, Chelsea have the best record at not conceding goals on the road with just 8 let in so far.
Team News:
Crystal Palace: Nathan Ferguson won’t return for another five weeks at least with his hamstring injury. Conor Gallagher is ineligible to face his parent club.
Chelsea: Mason Mount has what appears to be a minor ankle injury but will need to be assessed. Reece James will be assessed with a hamstring injury and he is only 50/50 to make this game. Ben Chilwell is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Head to Head:
Chelsea have won the last 8 meetings in a row.
It’s been 4 years since Crystal Palace last beat Chelsea.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Chelsea beat Palace 3-0.
There is an 80% chance to see over 2.5 goals.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Prediction:
Chelsea are the World Club cup champions, they have a better squad than Crystal Palace, have had the better season and we could go on and on, but this is Premier League football and especially playing games away from home nothing is certain. Palace have had more rest and they are a team under Vieira who up their game against the better sides. Chelsea do have motivation as they need to keep on to 3rd place but it isn’t at the panic stage at the moment.
You just wonder with the world class players that Chelsea have and the fact that they know they won’t be challenging for the league now, will they put in a 100% performance here? Because away to Palace you have too. Plus there is the hangover of winning the World Club Cup and believe it that this team would have celebrated and then some. Yes Chelsea still have the quality to win this game and their recent record over Palace is superb, but records also end and we think Palace may just be able to surprise Tuchel’s side here.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (+1 Crystal Palace) at 1.70
Half Time Correct Score: 0-0 or 1-0 to Chelsea at 2.75 and 3.25
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