Graham Potter makes his league debut!
Crystal Palace take on Chelsea in a London derby! The home side have remained pale so far. After six games this season, they have only managed one win – and only against Aston Villa, who are also in poor form.
On the other hand, the performance of the guests is also capable of improvement. Not more than half of their six league games have resulted in a win. For the star ensemble from Stamford Bridge, this interim record is naturally somewhat disappointing.
The focus is now on Graham Potter, who is making his coaching debut in league action for the “Blues” after Thomas Tuchel had to vacate his post. For the match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea, the prediction includes a goal from Raheem Sterling on the side of the visitors.
Crystal Palace – Statistics & current form
The “Eagles” are currently only in 16th place in the Premier League. The weak start to the season results, among other things, from a below-average offensive performance. However, Wilfried Zaha must be excluded from this criticism.
With four goals, the striker from the Ivory Coast has scored more than half of the home side’s goals this season (7). A particularly impressive record given that he even missed a league game due to injury, which is why he only made five appearances.
Zaha has two internationals under his belt
On top, he scored in October 2017 to secure the last win against Chelsea for the time being. Now, however, he will probably be a little tired, as he was on duty for his home country against Togo and Guinea during the international break.
In home games, coach Patrick Vieira’s team is always very cautious in the first half of the game. Last season’s twelfth-placed team, for example, has yet to take a break tea including a lead in the three home games they have played.
Are the visitors already ahead at half-time?
With this in mind, betting on an away win, including the visitors leading at half-time against the two-time FA Cup finalists, is an additional option for the clash between Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
Furthermore, the odds on a goal by the visitors after half-time are interesting: Seven of the nine goals conceded so far have been conceded by the home side in the second period. This corresponds to a percentage of 78 per cent and only Arsenal tops this figure with 86 per cent in the PL.
It’s obvious that Crystal Palace are particularly depleted defensively as the game progresses.
Predicted line-up of Crystal Palace:
Guaita – Guehi – Andersen – Clyne – Ward – Doucoure – Eze – Schlupp – Olise – Zaha – Mateta
Last matches played by Crystal Palace:
Premier League
03/09/2022 – Newcastle 0 – 0 Crystal Palace
31/08/2022 – Crystal Palace 1 – 1 Brentford
27/08/2022 – Manchester City 4 – 2 Crystal Palace
Carabao Cup
24/08/2022 – Oxford 0 – 2 Crystal Palace
Premier League
20/08/2022 – Crystal Palace 3 – 1 Aston Villa
Chelsea – Statistics & current form
The “Blues” have been successful in London derbies of late: They have won eight of the last nine city duels – only West Ham suffered a defeat in this review last season.
The guests will also be very motivated. After all, they will be looking to give their new coach Graham Potter a successful debut in this role in the Premier League, after his debut as a new manager in the Champions League was mediocre with a 1-1 draw at Salzburg.
Recent coaching debuts at Chelsea have often been successful
However, he can take heart from the statistics: only one of the last ten new Chelsea coaches, excluding interim coaches, lost his debut in the league (6-3-1).
On the other hand, the defeat with Frank Lampard against Manchester United with 0:4 in August 2019 was also suffered by Potter’s only compatriot in terms of the last ten coaches.
In order to improve the previously shaky defence, Chelsea recently spent another “measly” 80 million euros. This sum was used to buy Wesley Fofana from Leicester.
In his two appearances so far, the French U21 international has not been able to change the problems in Chelsea’s backline – against West Ham and Dinamo Zagreb, the visitors again waited in vain for a clean sheet.
Predicted Chelsea line-up:
Mendy – Silva – Koulibaly – Fofana – James – Gallagher – Loftus-Cheek – Kovacic – Cucurella – Sterling – Pulisic
Last matches played by Chelsea:
Champions League Grp. E
15/09/2022 – Chelsea FC 1 – 1 RB Salzburg
06/09/2022 – Dinamo Zagreb 1 – 0 FC Chelsea
Premier League
03/09/2022 – Chelsea FC 2 – 1 West Ham
31/08/2022 – Southampton 2 – 1 Chelsea FC
27/08/2022 – Chelsea FC 2 – 1 Leicester
Crystal Palace – Chelsea Direct comparison / H2H record
The direct comparison is disastrous for Crystal Palace. For nine league meetings they have only lost to Chelsea! Moreover, the last comparison in the FA Cup was a 2-0 loss last April.
In the Premier League, the visitors have only managed a longer series of victories against Portsmouth (10), Sunderland (11) and West Brom (12). Furthermore, the home side have been waiting for their next goal for three meetings.
This clash has not seen a draw for a very long time
Furthermore, the pairing is a guarantee for no draw. It’s been 22 meetings since this fixture – the longest such run between two teams in Premier League history! No less than 18 of these games have ended in a Chelsea victory.
Crystal Palace – Chelsea tip
Crystal Palace have been back in the Premier League since 2013. Since their return to the British top flight, they have only ever managed a double-digit finish at the end of the season. Now there are signs of such a season again.
At the moment, the home side only occupy one place in the bottom of the table and only one win from the first six rounds of matches is, of course, an achievable result. For the match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea, the tip is for Raheem Sterling to score for the visitors
The striker has scored three goals, the best tally in the league so far for the Blues. He has been particularly reliable in this respect recently.
The new signing from Manchester City has scored in two of the last three league games and also scored his team’s only goal in the last Champions League match in a 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg.
The prediction is also supported by the fact that his strike partner Pulisic is out of form with no goals yet this season.
