Chelsea v Crystal Palace: Premier League – live | Premier League

53 min: The cameras pan to Palace’s bench, and a lovely view of Ray Lewington’s legs. The Palace assistant is a fan of shorts, in case you didn’t know, and also used to play for Chelsea, in the 70s.

51 min: Olise sets off on one of those slalom runs, where he looks like he’s jogging past players. It’s only when you see the other players scampering that you realise how fast Olise is travelling. Caicedo brings a halt to Olise’s run with a cynical foul. Yellow card for the Ecuadorian.

49 min: A very similar start to the first half. Palace have a bit of control but haven’t troubled Petrovic’s goal. Chelsea are growing back into the game.

47 min: No changes for either side, although both sides have players down in the opening moments of the second half. Gusto, the player of the first half, is down clutching his ankle while Andersen has hurt his back/bottom. The Dane fell on it awkwardly, but both Gusto and Andersen are OK to continue.

Peeeeeeep! We’re off again at Stamford Bridge.

Looking back at the replays, that was terrible defending from Caicedo for the Palace goal. He was marking Olise and completely let his marker go. Olise had time to take a touch from the cross, before finishing.

Half-time reading:

I should say that there was an absolutely crunching tackle by Richards in midfield to win the ball back for Palace. It led directly to the equaliser. Think Dier on Ramos. A tackle that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Whack.

Half-time: Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace

45+2 min: What a player Olise is. Absolutely hypnotic to watch and makes the right decisions in key moments. His cross for Ayew’s goal against Brighton was also so classy.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace (Olise 45+1)

45 min: Two minutes added on here.

44 min: Chelsea fans are keen to get on Jackson’s back. The Senegalese has had a really good half but has been ponderous in the last few mins. He is lacking in confidence and the jeers definitely do not help.

42 min: Patient and incisive play from Chelsea as Nkunku and Gallagher cut through tight defensive Palace spaces. Mudryk tries a shot but it’s well blocked. Palace can’t get out at the moment.

40 min: Gallagher is increasingly the dominant force in midfield. Twice he wins the ball back to get Chelsea moving forward. His energy is sometimes irrepressible.

38 min: A great stat from the Amazon Prime commentary team: Roy Hodgson won his first title as a manager in 1976.

Palace are not out of this. They have had around 33% possession but if they can get to half-time just one down, things can change in the second half. Chelsea have looked good but they are a fragile entity.

36 min: Another email, this time from Justin Madson.

“Another interpretation of the penalty shout: Nkunku hits Richards’ knee on his wind up when Richards comes in late. Replays show clear contact, not enough for a penalty according to VAR, but please do not describe that as a dive. There was contact.”

I agree, it’s a grey area. But ultimately there isn’t enough to send him toppling. There’s enough contact to put him off his shot, but that on its own isn’t enough for a foul. There was a very similar incident in the Palace v Brighton game, where Brighton were denied a similar penalty shout.

34 min: Just to remind you that Everton v Manchester City is yet to kick off (8.15pm) but you can follow that here.

32 min: A few goals to update you on at nearby Brentford. They trail Wolves 3-1, with Hwang Hee-chan the latest to score. What a job Gary O’Neil is doing with the team in old gold.

30 min: Mudryk and Jackson combine, with the former racing forward like a greyhound to latch onto a through ball. Mitchell comes across to cover and wins a corner to be taken by Gallagher. He flicks a thumbs up at the nearby Palace fans, and they give him a ripple of applause back. That’s nice. A terrible corner, mind.

28 min: Gusto, Mudryk, Jackson have all been excellent for Chelsea.

26 min: Penalty shout for Chelsea! Jackson does wonderfully well to nick the ball from Andersen, before driving forward and shrugging off the Danish defender. Jackson slides in Nkunku, but just as the Frenchman is shooting, he feels Richards on his shoulder and goes down, completely mishitting his shot. Chelsea appeal but Michael Salisbury does not award the penalty, and VAR agrees! Nkunku definitely felt the defensive pressure of Richards, but there wasn’t enough for a foul.

24 min: Andersen is one of the best centre backs in the league with the ball at his feet. His passing is 9/10, he steps out wonderfully with it and draws defenders/midfielders. But he can be got at defensively and lacks the pace to deal with the quickest attackers like Mudryk.

22 min: Henderson saves to keep it at 1-0! Jackson plays a delightful backheel to release Mudryk, who is through on goal but takes a heavy touch. Henderson is out quickly to close the angle and gets something on Mudryk’s dink, with Guehi first to the rebound. A brilliant move, but credit to the Palace keeper.

21 min: As I write that, Richards makes a great tackle on Nkunku after Colwill had made a nice break down the left wing. What do I know?

19 min: “As a Palace fan, I’m increasingly worried about this season,” emails Max Williams. “The relegation battle is becoming far more competitive than it looked a month ago and our form has gone off a cliff. Roy is a legend but giving him one final season always seemed a bad idea – partly as we can’t now rehire him if our slump continues. Aside from the wingers and centre backs, the squad really isn’t very good – Doucoure is a huge loss. I think we’ll sneak enough points to avoid the drop but considering the football and FA Cup run of Vieira’s first session this has been really dispiriting .”

Doucoure’s injury is so crucial. Richards is no replacement, really.

17 min: Olise has the beating of Colwill all day. He lollipops and feints, gets a yard to cross and whips a brilliant ball to the ball post, where there is an equally brilliant clearance from Gusto, with Ayew lurking.

15 min: A promising start for Palace, but this has a familiar feeling for Eagles fans. Chelsea have settled, and now look the more dangerous side. Jackson wins a free kick out wide and Nkunku heads over. Should have done better.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace (Mudryk 13)

12 min: This is a good game. I do have more adjectives, just wait and see.

10 min: Mitchell clears off the line for Palace! Mudryk plays a neat one-two before an excellent through ball to Maatsen, who prods the ball goalwards. Henderson gets a small touch on the ball, which rolls towards the Palace goal, but Mitchell sprints to sweep away just in time. Good attack, good goalkeeping, good defending.

8 min: Olise has the beating of the next Chelsea defender, Badiashile, to come near him, and should earn another dangerous free kick from Caiceido on the edge of Chelsea’s box. The referee, Michael Salisbury, is somehow unmoved.

7 min: Gallagher is being booed by the Palace fans, presumably because the midfielder didn’t sign for the club permanently after his excellent loan spell in south London a couple of seasons ago. The booing is petty and excellent, in my book.

5 min: Andersen plays a wonderful zippy pass to Olise, who beats Colwill with ease and canters down the right wing, before winning a free kick, from which Eze tries his luck. Petrovic scrambles to cover his near post, but Eze misses by a yard.

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.

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!

Preamble