Chelsea
can move closer to winning the Premier League title with a win over Crystal
Palace at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Antonio Conte's men go into the game 10 points clear of Tottenham in second
and have been top of the table since November 5.
Conte knows at least another 21 points from their remaining 10 games will
guarantee a first Premier League crown for the Italian, who took over in the
summer.
The Blues have won their last 10 league home games, scoring 30 goals and
conceding just five.
Crystal Palace are currently 16th in the Premier League with a four-point
gap between them and the drop zone.
Palace come into the game as one of four teams that have won their last
three Premier League games, along with Chelsea, Tottenham and Leicester.
Team news
Eden Hazard is expected to recover from a calf injury but Chelsea could opt
to leave him out of Saturday's clash.
Conte says he has a number of fitness issues to assess ahead of kick-off and
goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (hip) returned to training on Thursday.
Striker Diego Costa shrugged off a foot and ankle problem when on
international duty with Spain, while Victor Moses (calf) is a doubt, but
John Terry is back in contention.
Crystal Palace remain without Patrick van Aanholt.
The Dutchman is recovering from an ankle injury and could be joined as an
absentee by Fraizer Campbell, who has a knock, and James McArthur, who is
suffering from back spasms.
Mathieu Flamini could again be available having returned to training. Connor
Wickham and Pape Souare, meanwhile, remain long-term absentees.
Opta stats
Chelsea have won four of their last five Premier League games against the
Eagles, losing the other at Stamford Bridge last season. Crystal Palace's
away win at Chelsea in August 2015 is their only top-flight away win at
Stamford Bridge (D5 L8).
Chelsea have won the most points in London derbies this season in the
Premier League (15), while Palace have lost all five they've been involved
in.
Chelsea have used the fewest players (21) and made the fewest changes to
their starting XI overall (26) in the Premier League this season. In
2015-16, the champions Leicester City also topped these categories (33
changes to starting XI and 23 players used).
Costa's next Premier League goal will be his 50th in the competition and
would be the seventh Chelsea player to reach that milestone for the club.
If Costa does score in this game, he will have reached 50 goals in 81
Premier League appearances. The only players to do this in fewer games were
Andrew Cole (65), Alan Shearer (66), Ruud van Nistelrooy (68) and Fernando
Torres (72) and he would equal Sergio Aguero's record (81 games).
This game could see the top three most fouled players in the 2016-17 Premier
League season on the pitch - Wilfried Zaha (78 fouls won), Eden Hazard (75)
and Costa (68).
Chelsea have scored the first goal of a Premier League game on a league-high
22 occasions this season, while only Sunderland (20) have conceded the first
goal more often than Palace (19).
Christian Benteke has scored in four different Premier League games against
Chelsea; against no side has he scored in more games in the competition
(also four games v Sunderland and Swansea).
In Premier League history, Crystal Palace have won 48.3% of their points
away from home (167/323). The team to have won a higher proportion of their
total points away in the competition are Blackpool (48.7%).
Merson's prediction
Nothing but a Chelsea win here. I just don't see how Crystal Palace can hold
them, despite regaining some good form.
They won a football match without having a shot on target against Watford,
but there's no way they'll be able to stop Chelsea. It's Chelsea's title,
too. There aren't enough games left to catch them in my opinion.
For me, N'Golo Kante is the player of the season. He's been a massive,
massive difference to them.
PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0, 6/1 with Sky Bet
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