Crystal Palace welcome European champions Chelsea to Selhurst Park on Saturday as they look for a first victory over the Blues since 2017.
Palace have a point to prove against Thomas Tuchel’s side, after suffering defeat on the opening day of the season at Stamford Bridge, with Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and Trevor Chalobah on the scoresheet.
It was, however, a significant moment for both Patrick Vieira, who took charge in the Premier League for the first time, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who made his professional debut for the club.
After two successive games on the road, Palace return to Selhurst Park in the Premier League for the first time in three weeks. The fixture list has not been kind however, and Saturday’s clash will mark the third successive home fixture against a team in the Champions League positions.
After draws against Brentford and Norwich last time out, Vieira will be keen to use the atmosphere in SE25 to his favour and return to winning ways.
“Defensively we did fantastically well,” he said after a stalemate at the Brentford Community Stadium. “It was a tough place to come. We defended well at the set-pieces, we were organised and we managed to win the second ball. I think there are some really positive messages to take.”
The manager will hope to see an improvement going forwards, with Palace failing to score on Wednesday for the first time since the beginning of December against Manchester United.
The visitors are back in Premier League action after winning the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, beating Brazilian side Palmeiras via a late penalty in extra time. Victory against Tottenham Hotspur before the winter break was a welcome result, after a mid-season stutter which saw them win just once in seven games over the festive period.
Sitting in third place they are more or less assured of a Champions League berth next season, but Tuchel will be keen to regain the momentum of the early campaign ahead of the return of European football this month.
The Blues face Lille in the Champions League knockout round, with a League Cup final against Liverpool and an FA Cup fifth round clash with Luton Town still to come.
Conor Gallagher's absence, who cannot face his parent club, presents an interesting dilemma for Vieira and his staff. Gallagher’s tireless pressing in midfield will be a big miss, and so James McArthur's return to action at Brentford on Wednesday could not have come at a better time.
With Will Hughes performing admirably at the base of the midfield and Cheikhou Kouyaté's potential return to the matchday squad after his successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign, there should still be plenty of options for Vieira to mull over.
Tuchel will have a wealth of attacking options to choose from in south London. Kai Havertz continued his record of scoring in key moments, netting the winner in the Club World Cup final to add to his Champions League final goal last May.
Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all also capable of creating chances for Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku in attack.
Saturday, 19th February
15:00 GMT
Selhurst Park
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+
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