Key events
4 min: Chelsea haven’t had a kick yet. Certainly not a touch inside the Palace half. Ayew, something of a Palace cult hero, holds the ball up well and nearly combines with Eze to create an opening.
2 min: Palace start well! Clyne gets forward and twice has an opportunity to cross but fails to beat the first man on both occasions. Oh, to have a Trippier or a TAA in those positions.
Peeeeeeep! We’re off at Stamford Bridge. Storm Gerrit has passed in London and it’s a wonderful evening for football.
It’s baffling to me that more people have not clocked the importance of Nkunku’s injury. He was Bundesliga player of the season in 21/22, and joint top-scorer in 22/23. He’s an elite forward that has somehow gone under the radar for most punters and pundits in this country.
Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling are massive absences for Chelsea tonight. Both suspended after collecting five yellow cards this season. The caution for Sterling at Wolves was laughable. Sterling was clearly taken out in the Wolves box, and was accused of diving. He would clearly be playing left wing tonight (instead of Maatsan) had he not been booked. Palmer has been a brilliant signing. He has the quality but crucially, he has the confidence that so many Chelsea players lack. That probably a residual trait from his City days, and no bad thing.
Roy Hodgson is the next manager to face the Amazon Prime cameras:
“We’ve been hit by so many injuries. Things are getting better. We certainly think that we will get better too. We have to prove that. Eze and Olise were very important for us last season. It’s good to have them back but we can’t expect miracles. We go into every game thinking we have a chance. What’s happened in previous meetings doesn’t really go into our preparations.”
Gary Naylor has sent in an email.
“In a parallel universe…
Thibault Courtois
Ben Chilwell – Nathan Ake – Marc Guehi – Lewis Hall
Ross Barkley – Kevin De Bruyne – Billy Gilmour
Mo Salah – Tammy Abraham – Callum Hudson-Odoi”
There are a million of these. Here’s another (from me) that is definitely a better side than Pochettino has put out tonight.
Edouard Mendy
Lamptey, Tomori, Rudiger, Marcos Alonso
Declan Rice, Kovacic (or Kante/Loftus Cheek)
Havertz, Musiala, Mount (or Pulisic)
Giroud
Pochettino has been talking to the TV cameras:
We cannot put too much pressure but we need this type of quality. We have a young team. In time we will find the right balance. At the moment is a tough period. But we need to stay positive.”
I think Palace have a pretty good starting XI. I don’t love Richards in midfield, and Clyne/Mitchell are very limited going forwards (although they are excellent one-on-one defenders and maybe that’s what is required tonight), and Mateta can blow hot and cold up top. But overall this is decent Premier League side: Henderson, Andersen, Guehi, Lerma, Olise, Eze are all top half players at least, a few of those are top four players.
The major issue with this team is that (apart from raw youngsters) they don’t have the squad depth or the manager capable of making a big difference off the bench. So Palace must start right.
An extremely young Chelsea side, and also a relatively short one. I think only Petrovic, Disasi, Badiashile and Colwill are over 6ft tall. Pochettino has spoken about the need for height before and Chelsea have been poor from set pieces this season, Wolves scored from a corner on Sunday remember. This is surely something Palace will target.
1 – Chelsea have named their youngest ever Premier League starting XI (23 years, 21 days); it’s the youngest XI named by a Premier League team since Man Utd vs Crystal Palace in May 2017 (22y 284d) and the eighth youngest ever by any side in Premier League history. Budding. pic.twitter.com/ljLqDB9Rza
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 27, 2023
This is worth a read, from John Brewin.
Let’s unpack those teams, then.
Chelsea line up in a familiar 4-2-3-1, but injuries and suspensions means they are still slightly unorthadox. Nkunku starts but looks like he’s playing in the No 10 role, behind Jackson. Penny for the thoughts of Madueke as Maatsan, normally a left back (although did play further forward for Burnley last season), gets the nod on the wing. Lavia is on the bench, so could make his debut, but Caicedo is back to partner Gallagher in holding midfield, with Enzo injured. Back four is pretty stable, although interesting to see Thiago Silva benched. Perhaps Pochettino is worried out the pace of Palace on the counter attack.
One change from the Palace starting XI that drew at home to Brighton: Eze in for Hughes, the former competing his comeback from injury to start for the first time in over a month. Franca and Ozoh on the bench, as expected.
The teams!
Chelsea: Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Badiashile, Colwill, Caicedo, Gallagher, Mudryk, Nkunku, Maatsen, Jackson.
Subs: Thiago Silva, Madueke, Bettinelli, Broja, Gilchrist, Lavia, Bergstrom, Matos, Castledine.
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Richards, Olise, Eze, Ayew, Mateta.
Subs: Tomkins, Matheus Franca, Schlupp, Hughes, Ahamada, Matthews, Riedewald, Adaramola, Ozoh.
Preamble
We’re not quite into January, Blues, but there is still sense of foreboding at Stamford Bridge. It’s not exactly news that Chelsea have been a mess ever since the halcyon days (!) of Thomas Tuchel, and have some absurdly talented players in their squad, alongside some very average ones, in a tactical system which flickers from the sublime to the ridiculous. Their transfer strategy is bordering on a joke: the latest murmurings are that they want to sell one of their best players this season (and stand-in skipper) Conor Gallagher, while using any proceeds to buy a new striker. Chelsea definitely, definitely don’t need a striker. But ya, know. Why not?!
It’s this sort of decision making that has created a disjointed squad, out of sync with each other and out of sync with their fanbase. But remarkably, there is still hope. Christopher Nkunku has had a rotten run with injuries since his £58m move from RB Leipzig in the summer but the Frenchman, aged 26 and in his prime, is one of the best players in Europe. He is a complete forward, clinical off both feet, who can both drop deep and get in behind. A set-piece specialist, he also has the physical and technical qualities to be this side’s talisman, and is excellent in the air. He scored a headed goal at Wolves on Sunday, in just his second appearance for Chelsea. Armando Broja is talented, Nicolas Jackson is getting undeserved criticism for a 22-year-old who has just arrived in this country and scored seven goals from his first 14 league outings. But Nkunku is the one – of all the buys Chelsea have made, I think he is the best. Keep him fit and Chelsea should zoom up the table. This would be an excellent time to put Nkunku is your fantasy team, just sayin’.
Things are not all bad for Chelsea. There is a League Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough to look forward to. Romeo Lavia, who has not kicked a ball for the first team since his own £58m summer move, is on the verge of making his debut. Moises Caicedo is expected to be fit tonight after overcoming an illness.
Even with the suspensions of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling, Chelsea will fancy their chances against Palace. Chelsea have won their last 12 matches against tonight’s visitors in league and cup. Hodgson will be hoping for a performance akin to the one at Manchester City, a 2-2 draw, rather than the drab displays that have seen them lose six of the last 10. Having led Brighton just before Christmas, Palace were extremely fortunate to escape with a point.
Roy Hodgson is a reactive manager who rarely takes the initiative tactically. It’s a shame as even with the departure of Wilfried Zaha, Palace do have the personnel to worry teams, particularly with Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. Young players like David Ozoh and Matheus França (a Brazilian teenager signed for £26m) have not been given the minutes their promise deserves. Hodgson doesn’t let the handbrake off easily. I would expect a cautious and experienced line up tonight. Maybe Roy will prove me wrong.
Kick-off: 7.30pm GMT.
