Premier League preview and odds: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

Published on: 31/12/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

January 3, 2015 13:30pm - Selhurst Park

Premier League

Crystal Palace ended the year in an above-par fifth position in the Premier League table. They now face a Chelsea side that has had an disinctly below-par campaign by their usual high standards.

Watford beaten for first time in five matches

Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to six games with a second consecutive 0-0 draw at home to Swansea on Monday. That result means that Alan Pardew`s men have now lost just one of their last nine league encounters. Despite the draw, they remain in fifth place in the table, four points shy of the Champions League places.

The Eagles are unbeaten in their last three home games having drawn against Swansea and beaten Newcastle and Southampton. They now face a Chelsea side who are nine places and 11 points below them in the table.

Chelsea still not out of danger

Guus Hiddink saw his side play out yet another draw as they were held 0-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday. It was not a confident display from the Blues but they have now gone three games without defeat since the departure of Jose Mourinho.

With 20 points on the board, Chelsea are now three points clear of the relegation positions with half the season gone. They will be need to better that total in the second half of the season if they have any plans on finishing in the top half of the table.

Team news

Palace will continue without Connor Wickham, Yannick Bolasie, Dwight Gayle, Bakary Sako and Kwesi Appiah, while Damien Delaney is expected to be fit after suffering from a knock.

Meanwhile, Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao is likely to be missing once again, while, Loic Remy and Gary Cahill have been classed as doubtful.

Recent form (League)

Crystal Palace: LDWWW

Chelsea: DWLWL

Betting odds and tips

The bookies are making Chelsea favourites but the form says otherwise. The Blues looked utterly toothless against Manchester United and could find life difficult in South London on Sunday.

Ignore the bookies and go with form - Palace can be backed at 11/4 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 31/12/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (31/12/2015 14:04:09) but are subject to change.