Chelsea FC are certainly on Santa Claus’s naughty list this Christmas Eve. They just lost to a Wolverhampton Wanderers side that has a payroll which is a small fraction of the very large wage bill that have over at Stamford Bridge. Now comes a London Derby versus Crystal Palace.
Will the Eagles be cooked like a Christmas Goose? Hard to say, as Palace have plenty problems of their own.
Chelsea FC vs Crystal Palace FYIs
Kick: Wed. Dec. 27, 8:15 pm, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability: Chelsea FC win 57% Draw 24% Crystal Palace 19%
PL Standing, Form Guide: Chelsea FC 10th, 22 pts, LWLLW Crystal Palace 15th, 18 pts, DDLLD
Notice the Chelsea FC supporter song we included to embed here? It’s because it’s set to the tune of “O Tannebaum (Christmas Tree).”
And with that, we’ve exceeded our Christmas imagery/metaphor quota for this article. And we didn’t even get to Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which would have been fitting for a London derby.
Let’s get to the lineup prediction, so that we can all read it and then head on out to our respective Christmas parties!
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction vs Crystal Palace
Djorde Petrovic; Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, Benoit Badiashile; Conor Gallagher, Christopher Nkunku; Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk; Armando Broja
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.