Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace: EPL Game Preview

 
After winning the Champions League, Chelsea begins their quest for a Premier League title when they host Crystal Palace on Saturday. Chelsea finished in fourth place with 67 points in 38 games last season while Crystal Palace was 14th with 44 points in 38 games. Let’s take a closer look at where the value is at in this matchup.

Winning the Champions League was only the start for Chelsea, they have plenty of room for improvement and they’re feeling hugely optimistic about the future after watching manager Thomas Tuchel turn a broken team into a formidable side in no time at all. A push for the Premier League title has to be their goal, even though they haven’t been serious contenders since winning the Premier League in 2017. Romelu Lukaku agreeing to a club-record £97.5m transfer deal from Inter Milan will help tremendously and Tuchel will accept nothing less than a Premier League title.

The task for Crystal Palace new manager Patrick Vieira will be to mold the arrivals and remaining team members who have served the team so well in recent seasons into a coherent side in a short period of time. The form of Wilfried Zaha will be vital on offense and a rejuvenated Christian Benteke could be a difference-maker if he continues the form that earned him a contract extension.

Dafabet Picks

Team to Win (Regular Time)
• Chelsea: 1.27
• Crystal Palace: 11.00
• Draw: 5.80

Spread
• Chelsea: -1.5 (1.85)
• Crystal Palace: +1.5 (2.08)

Total
• Over 2.5, 3 (1.95)
• Under 2.5, 3 (1.95)

Key Points to Consider

Head-to-Head: These two sides last matched up in Premier League action on April 10 and Chelsea won 4-1.

Projected Leaders

For Chelsea, Timo Werner has a 31.26 percent chance to score. He averages 2.06 shots overall per sim, 1.14 shots on goal per and 0.37 goals per sim.

For Crystal Palace, Wilfried Zaha has a 14.08 percent chance to net the ball. He averages 0.46 shots overall per sim, 0.25 shots on goal per and 0.15 goals per sim.

Analyst’s Pick

Chelsea Moneyline.

Two-star (out of four) AccuScore hot trend pick on Chelsea in this one. Average score in simulations is Chelsea 1.96 to Crystal Palace 0.32.