- Crystal Palace have lost just two of their last 11 league games
- Chelsea have only scored one goal in their last three matches
- Recommended bet: Crystal Palace or draw double chance

Chelsea were one of the stories of the first half of the Premier League season, but manager Enzo Maresca played down any title talk and he looks right to have done so after his side have suffered back-to-back defeats against Fulham and Ipswich Town.

His team remain firmly in the race for a top-four finish, however and have a strong record at Selhurst Park in recent years, so this looks set to be an ultra-competitive affair to start 2025.

Team news

Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca are both long-term absentees for the Eagles, but England centre-half Marc Guehi will return from a one-match suspension for this game.

For the Blues Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Benoit Badiashile and Omari Kellyman are all set to miss out, while Mykhailo Mudryk remains suspended.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka are both major doubts with a knock and a virus respectively.

The stats

Only Brighton (9) have drawn more games than Crystal Palace’s eight stalemates in the Premier League so far this season.

Three teams have scored fewer goals than the Eagles’ tally of 20, while both teams have scored in six of Chelsea’s last eight games in all competitions.

Only Liverpool star Mo Salah (17) and Manchester City's Erling Haaland (14) have scored more Premier League goals this season than Cole Palmer’s tally of 12 for the Blues.

Prediction

Chelsea’s recent downturn in fortunes has mainly been due to an inability to break teams down, as they have scored just one goal in their last three games.

Those results include a 0-0 draw with Everton and back-to-back defeats at the hands of Fulham and Ipswich.

Perhaps more concerning for boss Maresca will have been the soft nature of some of those goals conceded and he will want to see a much-improved performance when his team make the short journey to Selhurst Park.

However, the Eagles have been one of the hardest teams in the Premier League to beat recently, losing just two of their last 11 games.

Those defeats came against Arsenal and an in-form Fulham, so teams have had to be at their best to get the better of Palace recently.

It is hard to argue that Chelsea have been at the top of their game recently and hosts Palace may be able to avoid defeat in this clash.

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