Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch

One game short of the halfway point of the season, Chelsea’s Premier League campaign is in perfect balance.

7 wins, 7 losses.
21 scored, 21 conceded.
10 points from the top four, 10 points from the bottom three, in 10th.

That’s not as it should be, but it is as it is.

The manager says he can’t see any green shoots. All upper management seem to be seeing are green shoots. The players? Just turkeys on a turkey shoot.

Where do we go from here?

Date / Time: Sunday, January 15, 2023, 14.00 GMT; 9am EST; 7:30pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Peter Bankes (on pitch); Michael Salisbury (VAR)
Forecast: cool, damp, breezy

On TV: none (UK); USA Network, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: none (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Chelsea team news: João Félix gave the team a lift on Thursday, but his dismissal knocked us back down and he’s now suspended for the next three games thanks to his reckless tackle and subsequent straight red card.

Denis Zakaria is another newly unavailable player, having picked up a quad injury. He brings our injured numbers back to double-digits, joining Reece James, N’Golo Kanté, Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Wesley Fofana, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Armando Broja, and Édouard Mendy.

Also unavailable is good Kepa Arrizabalaga, having been replaced by his evil terrible twin yet again. Not great timing on his part.

We have 6 points from our last 9 games, with the only win coming at home against Bournemouth. Other home games during that stretch included games against the current top three (1-1 Man Utd, 0-1 Arsenal, 0-1 Man City). Our level is well below theirs at the moment, but it should be still well above Palace’s. Should...

Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images

Crystal Palace team news: Having said that, Palace come into this game just three points behind us, and with a match in-hand. They do have 5 wins form their last 10 (16 points), but were smacked 4-0 by Spurs in their last league game, and then lost to suddenly rampant Southampton in the FA Cup last weekend.

Palace get Tyrick Mitchell back from suspension and have a healthy squad overall, with only oft-injured duo James McArthur and Nathan Ferguson unavailable.

They are one of the few teams with a worse scoring output than us, with just 17 scored in 17, six of those from Wilf Zaha. Former Chelsea prospect Marc Guéhi continues to lead the defense, which has conceded just 25 goals in total but 7 in the last three games.

Previously: Our last game against Palace was Potter’s first win as Chelsea manager, with former Palace loanee Conor Gallagher sticking the knife (and the ball) in late with the winning goal. Wasn’t the greatest game, but a win’s a win and we could use another one.