Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick off: 3pm
Chelsea will be looking to win their first home match of the season when they welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge on Saturday (today).
The Blues failed to win their opening two games before coming out on top against West Bromwich Albion last weekend, while their opponents have enjoyed an impressive start and have won two of their three Premier League fixtures.
Chelsea’s shaky start to the new season has been well documented, with their opening-day draw to Swansea City followed up by a crushing 3-0 defeat to title rivals, Manchester City.
They travelled to West Brom last weekend in a bid to turn their fortunes around, and it appeared that they would suffer more misery after conceding an early penalty.
However, James Morrison saw his spot kick saved by Thibaut Courtois and the Blues quickly took charge, with Pedro scoring and setting up a goal for Diego Costa on his debut.
Morrison then pulled a goal back for the Baggies, before Cesar Azpilicueta restored Chelsea’s two-goal advantage before the break.
In the second half, a red card for John Terry and a second goal for Morrison put the Blues under heavy pressure late on, but they managed to see out the game and claim a 3-2 victory to get back to winning ways.
Palace manager, Alan Pardew, must be pleased with the start that his team have made to the season, after two wins from their opening three Premier League matches.
The Eagles got off to a winning start by claiming a 3-1 victory over newly-promoted Norwich City, before an own goal from Damien Delaney saw them slip to a 2-1 defeat against Arsenal in their next outing.
They bounced back to form last weekend as debutant Bakary Sako struck late on to give them a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
The club have now won four of their last five league games and fans will be hoping that they can maintain their good run and achieve a second successive top-half finish.
Chelsea possible starting lineup: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Zouma, Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Willian, Pedro, Costa.
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup: McCarthy, Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare, McArthur, Cabaye, Zaha, Sako, Puncheon, Murray.