Chelsea v Crystal Palace preview: Blues eye rebound against Eagles
The 2-1 reversal at Craven Cottage was the Blues’ seventh defeat of the PL season, already more than the entirety of 2021/22, while Potter’s win percentage (42%) is the lowest of any of his predecessors since Guus Hiddink in 2015/16.
To make matters worse he will be without new loan-signing João Félix, suspended after being sent off for a dangerous tackle on Kenny Tete, and the new man will now join up to ten injured players on the sidelines.
Visitors Crystal Palace might just provide the perfect opposition for Chelsea to turn their form around, given the Eagles have suffered more PL defeats against the Blues (21) than any other side, as well as the last 11 competitive head-to-heads in a row!
As if that’s not enough to leave Palace fans in a cold sweat, they also make the trip north of the River Thames on the back of being dumped out of the FA Cup by Southampton (2-1), marking a fifth defeat in six matches (W1).
Manager Patrick Vieira admits he’s desperate for January reinforcements to stop his side from being dragged into a relegation battle.
He might also be aware that they need to improve their results against teams higher up the league in order to stave off that threat, as they have picked up just three points when facing sides currently in the top half of the table (D3, L5).
Players to watch: César Azpilicueta is poised to make his 499th appearance for Chelsea, with none of his previous 17 clashes against Palace ending all-square (W13, L4).
On the opposite flank will be Eagles full-back Nathaniel Clyne, who has only kept one clean sheet in 14 games against the Blues, but lost on just two of his six trips to Stamford Bridge (W2, D2).
Hot stat: There have been just 17 goals in Palace’s eight away games this season - the lowest total in the PL.
