Chelsea are looking to bring their three-game winless run to a close on Saturday afternoon when they make the journey across the capital to face Crystal Palace.
The Blues kick off the new calendar year with a trip to Selhurst Park following a disappointing end to 2024. A goalless draw with Everton was followed by underwhelming defeats to Fulham and Ipswich Town that have seen Enzo Maresca’s lose ground on table toppers Liverpool.
They will be tested by a resurgent Palace side at the weekend, with Oliver Glasner’s men having shaken off a disappointing start to the season over the past two months. However, the Eagles are by no means out of their relegation fight, only perched five points above the drop.
The spoils were shared in the reverse fixture back in September but Chelsea had won the previous 14 meetings on the spin. Palace haven’t won this duel since the 2017/18 campaign.
Glasner has the majority of his first-team squad available to him for Chelsea’s visit but he will be missing Blues loanee Trevoh Chalobah, who is ineligible to face his parent club. He will likely be replaced by Chris Richards or the returning Chadi Riad.
Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca are also missing for Palace, with the former a significant absentee in the centre of the park. Will Hughes is unavailable after requiring stitches in his foot following the win against Southampton.
Chelsea are missing Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana at centre-back – the latter is now facing a season-ending injury – and are also likely to be without Romeo Lavia in defensive midfield. The Belgian has been absent since the 4-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur due to a hamstring issue.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Carney Chukwuemeka are likely to be absent in midfield as well, while Mykhailo Mudryk remains unavailable after being provisionally banned.
