Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea’s incredible exploits in their first campaign under Frank Lampard continued midweek with their miraculous Champions League comeback against Ajax.
The Blues looked dead and buried after going down 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. But a wild sequence which saw two Ajax defenders sent off and Chelsea awarded a second penalty helped the home side claim an improbable point.
But now, it’s back to Premier League action for the Blues, who will look to extend their winning streak to six matches when they host Crystal Palace.
The Eagles are in the midst of a ludicrously difficult stretch where they face the current top-five sides in the league in a row. They’ve yet to win in their first three tries, and the Premier League 2019 betting odds don’t foresee them taking three points at Stamford Bridge, either.
Talking Points
Chelsea’s confidence sky-high
Chelsea’s impressive winning run looked all set to come to an end at Stamford Bridge against Ajax. They were simply outplayed by the Dutch champions for the first hour of the match, which saw them go down by three goals.
But the Blues deserve credit for not giving up. They had already pulled a goal back before the surreal incident which completely turned the game on its head occurred.
Midfielders Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic both played well, while Christian Pulisic continued his current run of good form. Jorginho will be suspended against Palace, but N’Golo Kante should be ready to return to the starting XI after a lengthy injury layoff.
Tammy Abraham, who put the ball in the back of the net (albeit on the wrong end), wasn’t quite at his best against Ajax. The 22-year-old has cooled off a bit in recent weeks; he’s scored just once in his last six matches. But with nine goals in 11 Premier League appearances thus far, he remains a major attacking threat.
While Chelsea’s amazing away form — seven wins in a row — has grabbed headlines of late, their performances at home haven’t been quite as notable. Although, they have been trending in the right direction with back-to-back wins over Brighton and Newcastle while keeping clean sheets in both matches.
Crystal Palace’s attacking struggles
Crystal Palace’s recent run-in has been a brutal one. After winning back-to-back matches against Norwich and West Ham, their next three matches saw them face Manchester City, Arsenal, and Leicester City in consecutive weeks.
Their Premier League 2019 results in those matches have been predictably poor. They fell to 2-0 home defeats to City and Leicester. Although, they did fight back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 against Arsenal.
Palace scoring two goals in a match is a rare occurrence; that’s happened just four times all season, and three of those games were aided by a penalty.
The Eagles just don’t have that predatory goal scorer that they can rely on. Jordan Ayew is the team’s leading scorer with four goals, but he is not a consistent threat in front of goal.
Wilfried Zaha has had a disappointing time in front of goal thus far this season. After scoring a career-high 10 Premier League goals last term, he has yet to find the back of the net this campaign.
Andros Townsend has also failed to contribute too many goals. He has just one to date after six last season.
Although, they will face a Chelsea side which has already conceded 17 goals, tied for the fifth-most in the league. That should give them a better chance of getting on the score sheet.
And despite their struggles in attack, Roy Hodgson’s side are still organised and will be difficult to break down.
History
Chelsea and Crystal Palace don’t do draws. There’s been a winner in each of the last 16 meetings between the two sides. The Blues have come out on top in 12 of those 16 matches, including the last three on the bounce. Alvaro Morata netted a brace in a 3-1 Chelsea win at Stamford Bridge last November.
Palace last won against Chelsea back in 2017. In fact, they did the double over the Blues that season, with Wilfried Zaha scoring in both games.
Betting Tip
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Chelsea vs Crystal Palace | Under 3.0 Goals @ 1.98 |
| November 09, 08:30 (GMT+8) |
SBOBET odds have Chelsea installed as significant 1.35 favourites to win at home. Palace are priced at 7.80 to score the upset, while a draw is 4.90.
However, I’m going with the over-under for this match, with the total goals going under 3.0. I just don’t see Chelsea scoring over two goals against this well-drilled Palace side. And on the flip side, I have no confidence in Palace’s attack to do much damage. With all of that in mind, this match has the makings of a tight, low-scoring affair at the Bridge.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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