Date: Saturday 1st
October 2022
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST
It’s been so long without a game in the Premier League, I’d almost
forgotten it would be Graham Potter in the dugout for us at Selhurst Park as we
take on Crystal Palace this afternoon.
It hasn’t been so long I’ve forgotten how we were playing though, or
that we were seventh in the table having scraped just 10 points from six games
in the Premier League and were about as enjoyable to watch as a coat of Dulux washable
matt drying. No surprise we’d managed only two wins from seven games in all
competitions this term then.
Palace weren’t exactly
having a ball before the international break either though, four points behind
us, nine places lower and conceding in each of their three top-flight home
games so far this season. So Palace won’t want reminding we’ve won the last
nine league games against them and will instead likely focus on the fact we’ve lost
our last three away games in all competitions.
Graham Potter has been in charge for just one game for us so far since
Tuchel’s sacking, a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions
League, so right now we’d struggle to predict our starting XI, much less how
games under him are going to pan out.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going
into today’s game, Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira, says “Training has been challenging, because the last
time we played a competitive game was quite a while ago. It was a challenge to keep the players
focused. But we are looking forward to
the game. We will face one of the best teams in the Premier League and we will
be ready for that. We worked well in the
last couple of weeks and we will be ready to compete.
We just look at what he [Potter] has been
doing at Brighton, and analysing the first game [Chelsea] played in the
Champions League. Seeing if there is
something we can take to allow ourselves to perform in a better way. When a manager works well for a couple of
years, he deserves a chance in one of the top teams. When you look at his
record in the last couple of years, he’s been doing fantastically well with
Brighton and today he’s with Chelsea. I wish him all the best – after the game
on Saturday.”
Chelsea
manager Graham Potter, meanwhile, says “We’ve used the time to get to know people in
an environment where there aren’t games. At the same time we’re itching to go
and play. That’s when you learn a lot and make progression. We couldn’t control
everything in terms of how it’s panned out with the cancellations, so we’ve
just had to make the most of it and now we’re looking forward to starting.
[Vieira’s] done a fantastic job, built on the foundation
that Roy laid. Fantastic structure. Always difficult to play against, well
organised, good spirit. It reminds me of him as a player. A really good
job.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Crystal Palace, Nathan
Ferguson (foot), Jack Butland (hand) and James McArthur (groin) are all out, although
James Tomkins (calf) is available.
For Chelsea, Edouard
Mendy (knee) and N’golo Kante (hamstring) are back in training but won’t feature,
whilst Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka miss
out through illness.
TEAMS
CRYSTAL PALACE (Possible line-up): Guaita; Ward,
Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Schlupp, Doucoure, Eze; Ayew, Mateta, Zaha
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Kepa; Fofana, Thiago Silva,
Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Sterling
CURRENT FORM (PL)
CRYSTAL PALACE: LDWLDD
CHELSEA: WDLWLW
LAST SEASON
Crystal Palace 0-1
Chelsea (19th February 2022)
OTHER STUFF
- Crystal Palace have
lost more Premier League games against Chelsea than any other side.
- Chelsea have won 10
consecutive games against Crystal Palace in all competitions
- Crystal Palace have
drawn an unrivalled 18 Premier League games since the start of last season.
- Crystal Palace 2-0
loss to Arsenal in the opening game of 2022-23 is their only defeat in nine
home league games.
- Chelsea have been
beaten in three of their last five Premier League away games
- Crystal Palace league
record of one win, three draws and two defeats is the same as at this stage
last season.
- Palace have won
only two of their last 20 Premier League London derbies
- Chelsea have won
eight of their last nine London derbies away from home in the league.
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
