Chelsea have had an amazing season so far, as they are still sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League with a 10-point difference from the 2nd Tottenham. They are up for what appears to be an easy afternoon when they will be hosting Crystal Palace on Saturday, April 1st. Crystal Palace might be sitting dangerously close to the red line, but they are coming off 3 consecutive wins without even conceding.
Chelsea (22-3-3) are coming into this match after a 2-1 victory over Stoke City on the road. They took the lead at the 13th minute with Willian, but Stoke city managed to pull even at the 38th minute when Walters scored a penalty kick. However, Chelsea were simply dominant at the second half, where they had total control of the match but it took a defender to score the winning goal, as it was Cahill who scored at the 87th minute. That was Chelsea’s 5th consecutive win in all competitions, as they are also undefeated in their last 12 matches in all competitions (10-0-2). Prior to that, they had overcome Manchester United by 0-1 at home, and moved on to the FA Cup semi-finals, where they will be facing Tottenham. As far as the Premier League is concerned, Chelsea have been truly spectacular so far, as they are comfortably sitting at the top spot with 69 points, 10 points above Tottehnam. They have the 2nd best overall offense with 59 goals and the best defense with just 21 conceded. Moreover, they have the 2nd best home record (12-1-0), where they have the best home offense with 36 goals, and the best defense with just 8 conceded. Their impressive season is also due to the fact that they have been amazing on the road as well (10-2-3), where again, they feature the best defense with 13 conceded goals, against 23 scored. They will be coming into this match with a couple of absences, but very crucial ones, as forward Hazard is injured, Spanish striker Diego Costa is unavailable, along with defender Terry and midfielder Moses.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace (8-16-4) have struggled to find consistency all season, and as a result, they are moving in and out of the relegation zone. However, their recent successful streak has helped them move 4 points above the red line. They are now sitting at the 16th spot of the Premier League with 28 points, having scored 36 goals against 46 conceded. They are coming off an unexpected winning streak, as they have won their last 3 matches against Watford, West Brom and Middlesbrough without even conceding. The fact that they kept 3 consecutive clean sheets alone is amazing, especially for a team that concedes almost 2 goals per match. In their last match, they overcame Watford by 0-1 at home, in what was a very awkward match. It was actually Watford that had the upper hand throughout the whole match, but they were unlucky enough to score an own goal at the 68th minute, which was the only goal of the match. Crystal Palace have done a solid job on the road so far (4-7-3), where they have scored 21 goals against 26 conceded. Their last road match was a 2-0 win over West Brom, but they have won just twice in their last 12 road matches in all competitions (2-6-4). They will be coming into this match with quite a few important absences, as Mandanda and Wickham are unavailable, while Flamini, McArthur, Remy and van Aanholt are still listed as questionable to participate.