Crystal Palace‘s dream start to the 2020-21 Premier League season was brought to an abrupt halt last weekend against Everton, when they fell victim to the contentious handball rule. The Eagles lost the game 2-1, and will next travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea on Saturday.
Roy Hodgson’s side will be chomping at the bit to play the Blues, whose defensive weaknesses were exposed last time around against West Brom.
Crystal Palace’s new system has worked wonders so far, which was evident in the impressive win against Manchester United, so they will hope to test Chelsea and come away with a positive result.
Crystal Palace Team News
Palace have several injury issues heading into the game against Chelsea. Gary Cahill, James Tomkins, and Patrick van Aanholt have returned to training, but are not match-fit for Saturday’s clash. Nathan Ferguson and Connor Wickham will all miss the game due to injury.
Scott Dann too has trained, but might not make the starting lineup. Jeffrey Schlupp is doubtful, while Michy Batshuayi will be ineligible as he is on loan from Chelsea.
Let’s take a look at the possible Crystal Palace lineup for the game against Chelsea.
Predicted Crystal Palace Lineup vs Chelsea
Goalkeeper
Vicente Guaita should continue in goal for the Eagles against the Blues. He is the current no.1 for Palace and should make the Crystal Palace lineup. He has been in pretty good form as well.
Defence
Scott Dann may not be ready to start this game, and with injuries to other defenders, Hodgson will have to continue with his centre-back pairing of Cheikhou Kouyate and Mamadou Sakho.
Joel Ward and Tyrick Mitchell should play at right-back and left-back, respectively. Martin Kelly is an option at right-back for the former England manager.
Midfield
The hard-working midfield duo of James McArthur and James McCarthy should start in the middle of the park, providing a defensive shield to the backline. They will be tasked with the duty of disrupting the talented Chelsea attack.
Eberechi Eze made his debut last time around against Everton, playing off the left side. He could keep his place in the Crystal Palace lineup, while Andros Townsend should continue on the right. Hodgson could also move Wilfried Zaha to the left if he wants a physical striker up top.
Attack
Wilfred Zaha and Andre Ayew have been Hodgson’s first-choice options up top, and the duo have caused some issues to opposition defenders.
With Christian Benteke only just returning from injury and Michy Batshuayi unavailable, Palace could continue with these two against Chelsea, and could cause trouble to the shaky Blues backline.