By: Fasika Zelealem
Chelsea Odds Against Crystal Palace for July 7th
Chelsea bounced back from their 3-2 loss to West Ham United with an emphatic 3-0 win over Watford on the fourth of July. Olivier Giroud, Willian, and Ross Barkley were the scorers as the blues returned to fourth after temporarily dropping to fifth after Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Bournemouth earlier on in the day.
Willian has been in hot form since returning to action with four goals in his last four games and has finally looked worthy of being Eden Hazard’s successor of the number 10 shirt at Chelsea.
Christian Pulisic is another whose game has reached another level recently with two goals in the last four games as well winning the penalty in Chelsea’s second in the 3-0 win against Watford.
Chelsea restored the two-point lead over Manchester United and after Wolves’ 2-0 loss to Arsenal now find themselves five points behind Chelsea with five games to play.
The Blues have three tricky away games in their next four games started including Sheffield United and Liverpool, but their road trip begins at Selhurst Park against a struggling Crystal Palace side.
After a four-game winning streak which included a 2-0 win over Bournemouth upon the Premier League restart, Palace has lost three on the trot, failing to score a single goal in the process.
A 4-0 thrashing by Liverpool, followed by a 1-0 home loss to Burnley, ending with a 3-0 loss by the hands of Leicester, a game in which Jamie Vardy ended his goal drought and became a member of the Premier League Hundred Club, has seen Palace slide to 14th in the table after being a regular fixture in the top half of the table.
Chelsea Odds to Keep Palace on Their Heels
Palace has difficult fixtures coming up against Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur, and if it wasn’t for their four-game winning streak in February and early March, Palace could be in a dangerous situation near the bottom of the table.
Chelsea has reigned supreme over Palace in the last two years, winning four league games straight including the reverse fixture in November, winning 2-0. In their last six fixtures, Chelsea has won four and lost twice with their last loss to Palace occurring in October 2017.
Sportsbooks odds on a Chelsea win opens at -222. Odds on Crystal Palace returning to winning form opens at +650. Odds on a draw between the teams opens at +333.
Does Tammy Abraham Have a Future at Chelsea?
After the signing of Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, the spotlight immediately went on Tammy Abraham and how the new signing will affect his place in the team.
Since the restart of the Premier League, he’s started just two games and come on as a sub in the remaining three games and remains goalless since the restart.
Abraham hasn’t scored in the league since January 11th when he netted in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Burnley. The return to form of Olivier Giroud who’s netted twice since the restart has culminated in fewer minutes and when Werner is ready to play, you better believe that Abraham will get even fewer minutes and could spell the end of his long association with Chelsea
