Crystal Palace V Chelsea - 5 Things To Expect

By Ashley Clarke / January 2, 2016

On January 3rd, Sky's cameras will descend on Selhurst Park once more as Palace seek to complete a league double over Chelsea for the first time ever. When Palace beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge back in August no one could have predicted quite how dire things would turn out for The Blues. Fast forward four months and Chelsea manager Darth Jose Mourinho lost his job with his side languishing just outside the relegation zone and for the fans, the marker pens and bedsheets made an appearance. That's when you know things are serious. There are no such worries in South London as Palace are riding high in fifth place. However, two consecutive scoreless draws in a row have meant that the pack behind them have closed the gap. A loss and an unfortunate series of results could see Palace drop down to ninth. A win for Chelsea could see them move six points clear of the relegation zone, dispelling any chatter about their impending doom. More importantly, a win could move them to within twelve points of Spurs as they look to haul back the difference in the second half of the season. Palace will be without Yannick Bolasie, Bakary Sako, Dwight Gayle and Connor Wickham through injury and Yohan Cabaye through suspension, while Chelsea will be without Radamel Falcao. Loïc Rémy and Gary Cahill are minor injury doubts.