Crystal Palace v Chelsea Betting Tip

This match sees two clubs go head-to-head who are going in different directions with Crystal Palace quickly sliding towards relegation whilst Chelsea top the division by six points.

Palace have the worst record in 2016 out of all 92 of the Football League clubs and manager Alan Pardew is under huge pressure coming into the Christmas period with many bookmakers tipping him to be the next manager to lose his job.

The Eagles impressive 3-0 win against Southampton looked like it could be a turning point, but it has since been back to square one for Palace since then with a 3-3 draw against fellow strugglers Hull City before losing 2-1 to Manchester United on Wednesday evening.

Alan Pardew’s men do look good up front and have scored in each of their last eight games but it has been the opposite end of the pitch which has been problematic with their statistic of 31 goals conceded in 16 top flight matches this season being the joint third-worst in the league, whilst they have kept just three clean sheets in the entire of 2016.

Crystal Palace’s ground Selhurst Park has not been a happy hunting ground in recent weeks having lost four out of the last five games on home turf. Coming up against a Chelsea side in such hot form is hardly what they need to improve that record.

The Blues are undoubtedly the form team in the league right now having won their last ten league matches on the trot which means they sit a comfortable six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Antonio Conte’s side may not score as many goals as Arsenal and Liverpool, but they score enough to get them by thanks to their incredible three-man defence which has conceded just two goals in that ten-match winning streak and kept eight clean sheets. Their overall record of just 11 goals against in 16 games averages at an incredible 0.6 per game. Not many people thought Chelsea would win the league at the start of the season but they now look like the team to beat.

Given the form of the two sides, there is only one result on the cards and that is a Chelsea win. The bet to go for, though, is ‘Chelsea to Win & Over 2.5 Goals’ at 5/4. Chelsea will be ruthless against this shambolic Crystal Palace back-line and I expect them to score at least two goals, however, this bet also allows a fairly decent Eagles attack to score a surprise goal against the toughest defence in the league.

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