Chelsea v Crystal Palace – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

in the English Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles have seen coach Roy Hodgson retire and have brought in legend Patrick Vieira to take the reigns and overhaul an ageing squad. Chelsea will hope to have Romelu Lukaku available to make his debut in this match as they look to mount a first title challenge since lifting the trophy in 2017.

Chelsea Form

Chelsea won the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Villarreal. Tuchel’s reign started with incredible defensive form but the side has actually been quite leaky at the back in recent matches including a 1-0 loss to Arsenal and Leicester (FA Cup) and a 2-1 defeat on the final day to Aston Villa.

Chelsea finished last season by beating Man City 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League final. The Blues had a good preseason with strong performances to beat Arsenal 1-0 and draw 2-2 with Tottenham.

Chelsea Team News

Chelsea will hope to have the Romelu Lukaku transfer rubber-stamped by noon on Friday so that he can be in the squad for this match. After going to extra time on Wednesday, it is unlikely that any of those who played two hours – Trevor Chalobah, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz – will start this one.

Tuchel could bring in much of his Euros and Copa America contingent with Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Reece James and Ben Chilwell making up the defence and Jorginho starting in midfield. Hakim Ziyech is expected to be out after dislocating his shoulder against Villarreal.

Chelsea Motivation

The Blues will play to win this match. A solid display with a clean sheet-first approach has been the norm under Tuchel and that is unlikely to change.

Chelsea have just 64 hours between the Super Cup and this match and motivation may be slightly lower due to fatigue.

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Crystal Palace Form

Palace had an awful finish to last season, losing six of their final eight Premier League matches. That run saw them concede four times to Chelsea, three goals against Arsenal and three goals against a struggling Southampton side.

The Eagles kept one clean sheet in that run, a 2-0 win at Sheffield United, but their season finished with a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool. It’s been a good pre-season under Vieira with four wins and one draw and they played particularly well to beat Watford 3-1 in their final friendly.

Crystal Palace Team News

Palace are going to be without several midfield options for this match. The new addition from Reading, Michael Olise is out and so is Achilles rupture victim Eberechi Eze. Young midfielder Nathan Ferguson is out injured too and on-loan Conor Gallagher is unable to face his parent club.

Vieira is set to hand debuts to big-money signings at centre back in Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen. The latter has just returned from the Euros so may have to make do with a substitute role with Cheikhou Kouyaté likely to deputise in that case. Wilfried Zaha has been playing centrally and could be used in support of Christian Benteke.

Crystal Palace Motivation

It is not clear yet how Vieira will set Palace up this season. Early indications are that he wants to use a 4-2-3-1 shape with quite an attacking front four.

Chelsea is a tough match and the Frenchman would be delighted to take a point and start his difficult task at Palace off with a good result. He will perhaps ask his side to start fast against a Blues side that played extra time less than 72 hours earlier in the Super Cup.

Key Stats

Chelsea have kept 18 clean sheets in their last 29 matches

Chelsea have seen under 2.5 goals in 22 of their last 25 matches in all competitions

Chelsea have won their last 7 PL matches against Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace have lost 6 of their last 8 PL matches

Palace have lost 4 of their last 6 away PL matches

Prediction

Despite the fatigue from the Super Cup, Chelsea are the favourites to win this match and continue their fine record against Palace. Palace finished last season in poor form and a Chelsea win to nil looks like the best way to get value from this match.