A chance to stay in touch with the top-three and extend their winning record in the Premier League beckons Chelsea as they welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea start this 12th round of fixtures fourth with 23 points, while Palace are ninth with 15 points.
The hosts are just two points behind second-placed Man City and have won their last five matches. The ‘Blues’ are slowly finding their feet under Frank Lampard and are looking the real deal to finish in the top-four places. Although they had to crawl back to finish 4-4 against Ajax in the Champions League during the midweek fixture, Chelsea are in a good shape of winning form. Even their home form that has started a trifle slow is beginning to pick up pace. Chelsea have won their last two Premier League home fixtures, both while keeping clean sheets.
Palace are in the middle of a tough grouping of fixtures that has seen them play Manchester City, Arsenal and Leicester while Liverpool await next. To their credit, the ‘Eagles’ have got a point against Arsenal and start this round just two points behind top-five. However, their away form hasn’t been too bad with two wins and a draw in their last four Premier League road trips. The worry for Palace, though, is their stuttering forward line. With only ten goals to their name, Palace remain the joint-third worst scoring side of the league so far. However, they have conceded just 14 goals so far and are one of the top-seven defensive units of the league.
Chelsea are looking to win their sixth Premier League game in a row, something which they haven’t done since the 2016/17 season. Additionally, Lampard can become the seventh English manager to win six consecutive Premier League games. Crystal Palace have a very good away record having won 11 times on the road since the start of last season. Regardless, it is Chelsea who start the game as favourites and should finish the match off.