Premier League: Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
At 3:30 a.m. Beijing time on December 28, 2023, in the 19th round of the English Premier League, Chelsea will face Crystal Palace at home. Chelsea are giants in the Premier League, but their performance this season is not ideal, after 18 rounds of league games, they have achieved 6 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses, ranking 11th in the league with 22 points. Statistically, the Blues have scored 29 goals and conceded 28 goals in 18 league games this season. Chelsea's recent form has been on a dip, with a run of two games without a win, as the team lost 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the last round of the league.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Chelsea boss Maurizio Pochenotti reflected on the injury situation in his squad, saying: 'Enzo won't be available for Crystal Palace but hopefully Caicedo can. Caicedo had a high fever yesterday and today he is getting better and I hope he can train a little bit and be ready for the game against Crystal Palace. As for Ugochuku, we'll assess his situation tomorrow, but I think today he's feeling a little bit of discomfort in his hamstring again. I said in my previous press conference that it was important to get the players back up, but with Caicedo unavailable, we had to force Ugochukwu to play. It's a tough situation and hopefully the players won't be out for too long, we need everyone. ”
Crystal Palace's performance this season is slightly insufficient, after 18 rounds of league play, achieved 4 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses, ranking 15th in the league with 18 points, only 3 points higher than Luton in the relegation zone, it can be seen that the team has a certain relegation pressure! From the data point of view, Crystal Palace has scored 18 goals in 18 rounds of league this season, conceded 26 goals, and the offensive and defensive performance is not ideal, and the average goal rate of the forward line is only 1 goal per game, which is one of the teams with the second fewest goals in the league at present.
Crystal Palace have been in poor form of late, going seven games without a win. The team played at home to Brighton in the last round of the league, with 34% possession, 11 shots on goal and 3 on target, with Ayew's goal, and finally drew 1-1 with the opponent, in terms of the lineup, Ward, Johnstone and Holding and other 7 players are injured and will miss the game.
In terms of past meetings between the two teams, Chelsea have won all of their last 10 meetings with Crystal Palace, and their record is completely dominant. In terms of recent form, Chelsea's recent dip in form and the absence of a number of injuries have indeed affected the strength of the team to a certain extent, while Crystal Palace's recent form has been even worse, with a number of games without a win. Judging from the current attitude of all parties, the home team has been given some support, and combined with the strength and recent situation of both sides, Chelsea is still expected to win all three points in this game.