Crystal Palace hosts Chelsea at Selhurst Park within the London derby.
Victory could lift Palace to thirteenth if West Ham loses elsewhere, while Chelsea could move into third with a win.
Team news
Trevoh Chalobah is ineligible for Palace’s match against his parent club.
After coming back from suspension, Marc Guehi will replace Chalobah in defense.
Adam Wharton (groin), Matheus Franca (adductor) and Rob Holding (personal) remain on the bench.
Chelsea might be without Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall again because of a knock
Romeo Lavia (thigh) and Carney Chukwuemeka (illness) are again unsure for selection.
Mykhailo Mudryk (suspension), Benoit Badiashile (indefinite), Wesley Fofana and Omari Kellyman (all hamstring) are still ruled out.
When does the match start?
Palace hosts Chelsea at Selhurst Park on Saturday 4 January at 15:00 GMT, without UK television coverage.
State attack
- Palace are winless of their last 14 league games against Chelsea (D1, L13).
- Chelsea have won each of their last six visits to Palace (W6).
- Palace have scored in 4 of their last five home games against Chelsea.
- Palace has won certainly one of 4 London derbies at home this season (W1, L3).
- Chelsea have won two London derbies away this season (W2), with Cole Palmer scoring three of the seven goals in total.
Forecast
After recovering brilliantly and increasing their attacking intensity to beat Southampton after a sloppy start defensively, Palace must play solid from the beginning in the event that they are to have a probability of picking up any points here.
Chelsea, nonetheless, have been wasteful with defeats to Fulham and Ipswich of their last two games despite periods of dominance, so I expect them to come back away with a degree to prove their title ambitions are over.
However, Palace won’t be easy to beat because unlike their last meeting, they’ve performed at a level.
Type: Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea
