Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace, Premier League: Lineups & game thread

Today, Chelsea welcome Roy Hodsgon’s injury-stricken Crystal Palace from across town. Three points has been a must for a while, but today even more so, as a place in next season’s Champions League lies precariously in the balance.

Chelsea starting line-up (3-4-3): Courtois | Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill (c) | Zappacosta, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso | Willian, Giroud, Hazard

Substitutes from: Caballero, Bakayoko, Ampadu, Morata, Pedro, Emerson, Moses

Crystal Palace starting line-up (4-4-2): Hennessey | Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Kelly, Van Aanholt | Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic (c), Schlupp | Benteke, Sorloth

Substitutes from: Cavalieri, Fosu-Mensah, Zaha, Lee, Riedewald, Souare, Sakho

Date / Time: Saturday, March 10, 2018, 17:30 GMT; 12:30pm EST; 11pm IST

Venue: Stamford Bridge, London, England

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Forecast: Warm but windy. Forecast calls for a high of 15°C (59°F) with winds at 14 mph, gusting to 23 mph.

On TV: BT Sport 1 (UK); NBCSN, Universo, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); elsewhere

Streaming online: BT Sport Live (UK); NBC Sports Live Extra, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); HotStar (India)

The XI features a striker leading the line once more, although it’s Olivier Giroud taking to the pitch instead of Alvaro Morata. Danny Drinkwater drops out, with N’Golo Kante slotting back in as expected after recovering from illness, while Davide Zappacosta and Gary Cahill start in place of Victor Moses and Antonio Rudiger, respectively. The latter two changes are presumably ones that have been made with Wednesday’s clash against Barcelona in mind, although it’s also possible that Rudiger was one of the “situations” Conte had to assess prior to choosing his squad for the game. Last but not the least, Tiemoue Bakayoko returns from injury, and is on the bench today.

COME ON, CHELSEA!