Chelsea are back at Stamford Bridge for a London derby against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Both sides have struggled so far this season and will need a big three points to keep looking up the table rather than down.
Chelsea currently sit 10th in the Premier League after 18 games. The Blues have six wins, four draws and eight losses, leaving them on 22 points, already 14 points behind Champions League football.
In their last five games in all competitions, Chelsea have two wins and three losses.
The trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United was a miserable affair for Chelsea. Scott McTominay opened the scoring but Cole Palmer equalised before halftime. However, McTominay’s second goal gave United the 2 - 1 win. Another loss came Chelsea’s way in the north against Everton. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin both scored to give Everton the much needed 2 - 0 win.
Chelsea bounced back against a struggling Sheffield United side. Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both scored in the second half to give Chelsea the 2 - 0 win, where Chelsea had 78% of the possession and restricted The Blades to just one shot on target. In the Quarter-final of the League Cup, Chelsea hosted Newcastle. A big mistake from Benoit Badiashile gave Callum Wilson the perfect assist to put Newcastle ahead. However, Kieran Trippier also made a mistake in the dying minutes of the game to allow Mykhailo Mudryk to equalise, sending the tie to penalties. Trippier and Matt Ritchie both missed to give Chelsea the 4 - 2 win.
The last time out for Chelsea was against Wolves on Christmas Eve. Christopher Nkunku did score on his Premier League debut, but goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty gave Wolves the 2 - 1 win.
Crystal Palace, on the other hand, sit 15th. In 18 games, The Eagles have four wins, six draws and eight losses which leaves them on 18 points, just six points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Crystal Palace have three draws and two losses.
The first draw came in the trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham. Mohammed Kudus opened the scoring for West Ham, but Odsonne Edouard equalised in the second half to grab a 1 - 1 draw for Palace. However, the next time out against Bournemouth did not end in Palace’s favour despite having 60% of the possession. Marcos Senesi and Kieffer Moore both scored in the 2 - 0 win over Palace.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty opened the scoring for Palace in the second half, but following the red card to Jordan Ayew, Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott both scored to give Liverpool the 2 - 1 win. However, Palace grabbed an important point against Manchester City. Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis gave City the 2 - 0 lead, but a goal from Mateta and a 95th minute penalty from Michael Olise gave Palace the 2 - 2 draw.
The most recent outing for Crystal Palace was against rivals Brighton. Ayew opened the scoring in the added time of the first half, but a late goal from Danny Welbeck meant the game ended 1 - 1.
Chelsea and Crystal Palace have met 63 times in their histories, with their first meeting coming all the way back in 1906. The Blues have a much better record in the fixture with 36 wins in comparison to The Eagles’ 12 wins. In fact, even a draw is more common than a Crystal Palace win, happening on 15 occasions.