Date: Sunday 25th January 2026
Venue: Selhurst Park
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
This afternoon, we make the trip to Selhurst Park, otherwise known as the Premier League’s answer to IKEA – easy to get in, hard to get out with what you actually want. Yes, it’s Crystal Palace away.
Our hosts have been so allergic to winning lately that only Burnley are on a longer winless run. In fairness, they haven’t beaten us in 17 attempts, but let’s face it, with the way Chelsea have been playing, they’re probably wishing every week was Chelsea-at-home week. Can you blame them?
Palace are coming off a defeat to Sunderland, while Chelsea scraped past Brentford with all the style and elegance of a wardrobe malfunction. Let’s not mention the Champions League win against Pafos, a spectacle so painful it should have come with a free eye mask and an online link for psychological therapy.
Neither club arrives with their heads held high though. Palace have a manager who spent his last press conference making it clear how he felt about the Board. Chelsea, meanwhile, have a fanbase who should get loyalty points for surviving the Board’s decisions – and a manager assembling tactics with the help of a Lego set and a sticker book.
Chelsea’s away league form hasn’t sparkled since a November trip to Burnley – and with a London derby at Selhurst Park, there’s little reason to believe we’ll be dancing in the streets of London this evening. But hey, this is football, and as Chelsea fans know, hope is just misery with better PR.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going into today’s game, Crystal Palace manager, Oliver Glasner, says “Chelsea were a Club World Cup winner six months ago. UEFA Conference League winners, fourth last year at the end in the league, qualifying for Champions League, [and this season] top eight in the Champions League. It’s a fantastic team. I think Enzo Maresca did a fantastic job there, and Liam Rosenior now continues the job, because I think since he arrived they’ve played every third day, so there’s not a massive impact on the training pitch. It’s a great team, fantastic players. The structure also didn’t change massively, you know – it’s small margins, but I also watched the Brentford game back. I think Brentford could have won this game. On the other side, Chelsea were very efficient and punished every mistake Brentford made, and this is the quality of the team, this is the quality of the players.
For us, we will need to be very, very consistent: don’t give them easy chances, because it’s quite tough to defend all the quality of the wingers with Pedro, Estevão, Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens, whoever is playing. It’s the same profile – everybody’s quick. And then, with João Pedro, with Liam Delap, with Cole Palmer, with Enzo Fernandez always attacking the box from midfield and scoring goals from there, and Moises Caicedo the playmaker in midfield… I think it’s not a massive change in the way they are playing. But on the other side, we faced them three times, I think, since I arrived with three draws – and now we will try to take the first win.”
Liam Rosenior, meanwhile, says “Selhurst Park is for me one of the most difficult places to go in the Premier League. You have to be ready for a physical battle. The atmosphere in the stadium is going to be red hot. So we’re not taking it lightly at all. I was fortunate enough to play against Crystal Palace earlier in the season [with Strasbourg]. We know what a good team they are. We’re going to have to be very, very good to win the game.
I know that if this group of players perform in the manner that I expect them to, we have a great chance of winning any game against any team, and we just have to focus on that going into Crystal Palace.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Crystal Palace, Cheick Doucoure (knee), Eddie Nketiah (thigh), Daichi Kamada (thigh) and Rio Cardines are out. Daniel Munoz (knee) is available, Ismaila Sarr returns from ACON duty, and Nathaniel Clyne is another potential returner.
For Chelsea, Levi Colwill (ACL) remains out and is joined by Dario Essugo who managed to pick up a new injury in training, and Tosin Adarabioyo (hamstring). Mykhailo Mudryk remains out through suspension. Cole Palmer (groin) and Reece James may be available but Romeo Lavia is not expected to play a part.
TEAMS
CRYSTAL PALACE (Possible line-up): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Lerma; Devenny, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Johnson, Pino; Mateta
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Garnacho; Pedro
LAST SEASON
Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea (4th January 2025)
CURRENT FORM (PL)
CRYSTAL PALACE: LLDLDL
CHELSEA: DLDDLW
OTHER STUFF
Crystal Palace are without a win in their last 16 Premier League games against Chelsea
Chelsea have only failed to score in one of their 16 Premier League away games against Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace have kept just three clean sheets in their last 34 league games against Chelsea.
Crystal Palace are winless in their last 7 Premier League games
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea