By Ian S Palmer
There’s an interesting London derby on tap in this weekend’s English Premier League schedule as Chelsea hosts Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, August 29. Palace sits in fifth place in the standings after three games with six points from two wins and a loss. They’ve scored six goals and allowed four against. Reigning Premier League champions Chelsea are in 10th position with a win, loss and tie for five points with five goals scored and seven conceded.
Soccer Betting Preview – Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Betting Line:
- bet365 lists Chelsea as the current favorites at 1/3 while Crystal Palace is 15/2 and a draw is 4/1
Head to Head:
- Overall, the two teams have met 46 times in the past with Chelsea winning 22, losing nine and drawing the other 15. Chelsea won 1-0 at home last season and beat Palace 2-1 on the road. Palace’s last win against Chelsea came back in March of 2014 with their previous win being 21 years earlier in 1993 League Cup action. Those two victories are the only ones by Palace in their last 28 meetings with their London neighbors. Chelsea has won seven of the past eight encounters
Chelsea drew Swansea City in their season opener and were then thumped 3-0 by last year’s runners-up Manchester City on the road. They managed to take all three points last week though with a 3-2 win in Birmingham against West Bromwich Albion. English defender and team captain John Terry was shown a red card in the match and is suspended for the game against Palace. Manager Jose Mourinho is after English defender John Stones from Everton, but the Merseyside club has turned down several bids for the 21-year-old and have also rejected Stones’ transfer request.
Palace opened their season with a 3-1 win over newly-promoted Norwich City and then lost at home 2-1 against Arsenal on Damien Delaney’s own goal. However, they rebounded with a 2-1 triumph at home at Selhurst Park over Aston Villa last week. Palace then took on Shrewsbury Town in round two of the English League Cup (Capital One Cup) a few days later and had to go to extra time to beat them 4-1. They enter the game with Chelsea with three wins and a loss in all competitions this campaign.
Chelsea may have to do without Brazilian international midfielder Oscar for the game due to injury while Palace could be without English forward Connor Wickham due to a rib injury. In addition, manager Alan Pardew will have to sit striker Patrick Bamford since he’s on loan at Palace from Chelsea and isn’t allowed to play against the parent club. Mile Jedinak is expected t miss the game with a hamstring problem, but Pardew should have Yannick Bolasie back in the side after missing last week’s game with a compassionate leave.