Chelsea v Crystal Palace: Zaha can pile pressure on Potter

• Both teams to score looks a value play at 2.0621/20 with Chelsea struggling

• Crystal Palace are worth a bet at big odds to come on strong after the break

• Wilfried Zaha could scupper Chelsea in a Bet Builder play at 22.021/1

Chelsea's woes continuing

With 11 straight wins over Crystal Palace - 10 in the Premier League and one in the FA Cup - this is normally a fixture that Chelsea fans presume three points are in the bag before a ball is kicked.

But not this time. Graham Potter started his tenure at Stamford Bridge in encouraging style but in recent weeks and months it's all gone horribly wrong.

Six defeats in eight matches either side of the World Cup break and a haul of just six points from the last 27 available have left Chelsea lingering in 10th place.

Forget their previous status of kings of the capital, the banter doing the rounds is that they're now only the third best team in west London, a justifiable comment given that Brentford and Fulham are above them.

Defeat to Fulham on Thursday night included the sending off of new loan signing Joao Felix, a real 'when it rains it pours' moment.

The Portuguese is banned for the next three games including this one and joins a lengthy list of Chelsea players that Potter can't call upon. Reece James, Raheem Sterling, N'Golo Kante, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Armando Broja, Reuben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy and Denis Zakaria are all out injured.

Palace in poor form but have big-game pedigree

Crystal Palace are also suffering a blip although there's, of course, will never get the same amount of attention as Chelsea's.

But boss Patrick Vieira won't be a happy man after four defeats in five games, the latest a home FA Cup loss to the Premier League's bottom club Southampton.

That reverse looked awful at the time although perhaps less so now after Southampton deservedly beat Manchester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night.

That Saints loss was a third straight home defeat for Palace after limp 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to Spurs and Fulham respectively, the latter after they'd been reduced to nine men.

At least their away form looks more robust. They beat Bournemouth 2-0 in their only road trip since the World Cup and in November managed a 0-0 draw at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup before losing on penalties. Before that, a 2-1 win at West Ham.

With two Premier League games against Manchester United and another at home to Newcastle in their next three fixtures, this could be the Eagles' best chance to bank some points for some time.

Chelsea still heavily favoured

The natives are restless at Stamford Bridge and parting their hard-earned on a Chelsea win at 1.738/11 seems a long way from a good idea.

Crystal Palace are 5.69/2 to produce a shock while The Draw is 4.03/1 and certainly has some appeal.

Palace have a good record over the last few years of going to the big grounds and getting all three points. As stated, they've lost 10 Premier League games in a row to Chelsea but Wilfried Zaha tasted victory there in 2017 when equalising for the Eagles in a 2-1 win and never have the hosts been in such poor form since then.

Their meeting earlier this season produced a 2-1 victory for Chelsea and a last-minute winning goal for former on-loan Palace star Conor Gallagher.

BTTS looks worth a play

Both teams netted in that above fixture and that's worth a bet again this time given that the market favours 'No'.

Chelsea have conceded in 11 of their last 12 matches and Palace have the attacking players to stretch that unwanted sequence to 12 in 13.

The hosts have scored in each of their last 17 top-flight games against Palace so plenty points to Both Teams to Score at 2.0621/20.

Nerves could get the better of hosts

One very surprise stat given Chelsea's woes is that they're the only side yet to concede a first-half goal at home in the Premier League this season.

There's a fair chance that could continue but it doesn't stop the chance of familiar vulnerabilities reoccuring after the break.

Indeed, it's the classic pattern in games like this. A struggling team takes the lead, can't get a second goal, unease sets in among both crowd and players and they concede a late equaliser.

One obvious way of cashing in on Chelsea's strong first 45s and potential late wobbles is to head to the Half-Time/Full-Time market and back Chelsea/Draw at 14.013/1. In fact, as there's a scenario where Potter's men really fall apart after going into the break ahead, I'll add in Chelsea/Crystal Palace at massive odds of 50.049/1.

Zaha offers Bet Builder value

Wilfried Zaha scored three times in seven games against Chelsea earlier in his Palace career and he's netted twice as many (6) Premier League goals as any teammate this season.

That makes him the most obvious candidate to be Chelsea's chief tormentor in this one.

A scorer in a 1-1 draw at Anfield earlier this season, the attractive Bet Builder odds make a repeat of that an attractive proposition. Zaha to score in a 1-1 draw is around 22.021/1.

Opta stat

Chelsea boss Graham Potter has never won at home to Crystal Palace in all competitions in his managerial career, drawing one and losing three of four previous games in charge of Swansea and Brighton.

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