Crystal Palace vs Chelsea
London’s calling for a tasty tussle at Selhurst Park on Sunday when Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea is the box-office draw south of the River Thames.
Chelsea have been hit and miss for much of the campaign and have made their change in the dugout, bringing in Liam Rosenior as head coach following the departure of Enzo Maresca at the turn of the year. The new man picked up his first league win last week with a 2-0 victory over Brentford to lift Chelsea up to sixth place; but the mood isn’t quite so good at Palace, where a 2-1 reversal to Sunderland left them down in 13th position.
The Blues were in Champions League action against Pafos on Wednesday night, but I have a feeling the Eagles, who have plenty of off field problems to add to their poor form, will need the extra days they have had to prepare for this clash.
Talking Points
The Palace upheaval continues
All is not well at Crystal Palace where manager Oliver Glasner recently announced he would not stay at the club beyond the end of the current campaign. That is a serious blow to the club which won its first major trophy, the FA Cup, under the Austrian, but he has clearly become frustrated by the club’s transfer policy, having sold star Eberechi Eze in the summer to Arsenal. The 27 year old was the only scorer in the cup final win over Manchester City and he followed Michael Olise, who went to Bayern Munich last summer, out of the club which made him famous.
Two weeks ago Glasner watched his team lose to Macclesfield in the FA Cup, the biggest upset in the competition’s history and, after they followed that up with a limp defeat to the Black Cats, Glasner made his dissatisfaction known, in no uncertain terms. And more famous faces have left, or are likely to leave as Palace slide down the league table after a fast start to the campaign. Captain and centre back Marc Guehi has signed for Manchester City for a cut-price £20m, and now star striker Jean Phillipe Mateta has said he wants to go this window, with both Aston Villa and Juventus said to be tracking the Frenchman.
Now 28 years of age Mateta is in the prime of his career and, despite suffering injuries, he has bagged 40 goals in 122 games for the Eagles; not a bad ratio but Mateta has not been in the best of form recently. Palace chairman Steve Parish will try to get top dollar for Mateta and if an offer in the region of £35 comes in then he may be tempted to part with the striker.
In the meantime Glasner needs to rally the remaining troops and try to turn their fortunes round on the pitch; starting on Sunday.
Young Chelsea stars can thrive under Rosenior
The win over Brentford last week was Rosenior’s first league game at Stamford Bridge and he was pleased with the performance of his young stars, who he is keen to keep together. Summer signing Joao Pedro and the prolific Cole Palmer were on target against the Bees while skipper Enzo Fernandez has been in superb form, racking up eight goals and four assists so far this season. But Rosenior is already fending off interest in the player, with Paris Saint-Germain apparently watching the 25 year old Argentina star.
Fernandez is a key figure in this team and he can benefit under the guidance of Rosenior, along with the likes of Malo Gusto, Jamie Gittens and Estevao who are all back in training this week after injuries and sickness.
Despite losing their last Champions League outing away to Atalanta and losing their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg to Arsenal, the Blues are in good shape in Europe and the Premier League, as well as advancing to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
I think the young Chelsea stars would need a spectacular offer to leave the club while Rosenior settles in.
History
The Blues have pretty much bossed the head to head Crystal Palace vs Chelsea results with 24 wins to four, and just three draws from the last 31 encounters. At Selhurst Park it hasn’t been any better with just two Palace wins to Chelsea’s 12 and the one draw; but in the Eagles’ favour, the last three meetings have ended in a draw, 1-1 in South London last season and the two Londoners played out a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in August.
Palace’s post Christmas hangover has been a stinker with four defeats and two draws from their six games while Chelsea have won two, lost two and drawn two, but they have picked up under Rosenior
Betting Tip
The Crystal Palace vs Chelsea betting odds say this clash is balanced towards an away win and, with the turmoil engulfing Selhurst Park at the moment, combined with Rosenior’s positive impact at Chelsea I’m inclined to agree.
The Eagles aren’t out of it at 3.65 and the draw is at 3.72; and I don’t see this as a rollover, so for a correct score I’d go for 2-1 to Chelsea at a SBOTOP price of 7.97.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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