Crystal Palace v Chelsea – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

Palace are ten matches without a victory, whilst the Blues ended a five-match winless run in the league last time out.

Match: Crystal Palace v Chelsea
When: Saturday, 24 Jan 2026

Crystal Palace Form

Palace are winless in ten matches, and coach Oliver Glasner will be leaving at the end of the season. Before this dire run, they won three matches in a row. A 3-0 home loss to Man City was followed by a 2-2 home draw vs KuPS in the Conference League. A 4-1 loss at Leeds preceded a loss to Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup.

A 1-0 home loss to struggling Tottenham and a 1-1 home draw with Fulham came next. They lost 2-0 at Newcastle before a steady 0-0 home draw against Aston Villa. A poor performance led to a 2-1 shock defeat at Macclesfield in the FA Cup. Last Saturday, they lost 2-1 away at Sunderland to drop down to 13^th in the table.

Crystal Palace Team News

The Eagles have some key injuries ahead of this match, whilst Marc Guehi has been sold to Man City. Eddie Nketiah will need a late fitness test, whilst Ismaila Sarr should be back in the squad after AFCON duty.

Daniel Munoz should return at right wingback and Nathaniel Clyne is set to be available. Daichi Kamada and Cheick Doucoure are absent in the engine room.

Crystal Palace Motivation

Palace are low on confidence and their coach looks disengaged. They will play to win the match, but motivation is lacking.

Glasner will stick with his back five. Palace could sit back and try to frustrate Chelsea.

Chelsea Form

Chelsea won their last league match to end a five-match winless streak in the league. They beat Everton 2-0 and won 3-1 at Cardiff in the Carabao Cup. A 2-2 draw at Newcastle and a poor 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa followed. A 2-2 at Bournemouth proved to be coach Enzo Maresca’s final game in charge.

They scored very late to rescue a 1-1 draw at Man City. Under Liam Rosenior, they beat Charlton 5-1 in the FA Cup before losing 3-2 at home to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. They’ve won two matches this week with clean sheets: 2-0 at home to Brentford in the league and 1-0 at home to Pafos in the Champions League.

Chelsea Team News

Coach Liam Rosenior is without centre backs Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo. Injured midfielders Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia will not return for this match. Cole Palmer will need a late fitness test after a thigh injury against Brentford.

Joao Pedro is set to return to the starting XI. There are also set to be recalls for left back Marc Cucurella and centre back Trevoh Chalobah.

Chelsea Motivation

The Blues will see the poor form of Crystal Palace and feel this is a must-win game. A draw would be a poor result.

Rosenior’s side will look to dominate possession. If leading, he could make changes to protect a lead (as was done in the win over Brentford).

Key Stats

• Crystal Palace are winless in 10 matches (6 losses, 4 draws)
• Crystal Palace have lost 12 of their last 14 matches vs Chelsea
• Chelsea have won 3 of their last 4 matches (2 clean sheets).
• Chelsea have won just 1 of their last 6 EPL matches

Verdict

The Blues should continue their fine record against a depleted Palace side. A win-to-zero looks like a good tip.

Best Bet: Chelsea win at 1.97

Value Bet: Chelsea win to zero at 3.70