Crystal Palace vs Chelsea. Premier League.
Selhurst Park.
Watch Crystal Palace vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Action or Main Event from 5.30pm on Tuesday; Kick-off is 6pm
Tuesday 7 July 2020 20:06, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Crystal Palace vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Tuesday (kick-off 6pm).
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has no new injury concerns for the visit of Chelsea to Selhurst Park.
Jeffrey Schlupp and James Tomkins have been long-term absentees with hip and thigh issues respectively and are not expected to feature again this season.
Defender Martin Kelly returned to training on Monday after a calf problem but is unlikely to be part of the matchday squad.
Chelsea will be without N'Golo Kante for the short trip to south London. The midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Watford and is likely to be missing for a week.
Fikayo Tomori (muscle) had an unspecified setback and is still absent, as is Mateo Kovacic (Achilles).
Follow the match on Sky Sports Action without crowd noise and Sky Sports Main Event with crowd noise from 5.30pm; kick-off 6pm. Also keep up-to-date in our dedicated live blog with in-game clips, as well as highlights published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after full-time.
I am looking forward to this one. Chelsea are tremendously unpredictable. They beat Manchester City, had the West Ham defeat, and then initially struggled against Watford.
Is there a reason to keep Olivier Giroud out? I don't think there is. You have to play him. Tammy Abraham is back and is fresh but he can be erratic - Giroud is tried and trusted.
Palace have some good days, bad days, but Wilfried Zaha does not do enough. You cannot change him or his ability but how much do they need a number nine? They were interested in a goalscorer but they have never really found one. Are they going to seriously go out and get one? Until they go and do that, they do not have too much to build on, apart from shape and organisation. This can frustrate big teams, and particularly Chelsea who are not patient.
This is my game and it should be a cracker. Rather than creative ability, Palace will stifle and try to play on the counter-attack. Everybody will begin to question the top four race again, but Chelsea will stumble here.
CHARLIE PREDICTS: 1-1 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
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