Chelsea come into the match with Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace on an 8 game League unbeaten streak going back to January 4th when they lost 2-0 to Tottenham which ended their record breaking League winning streak at 13 games. As we know the Blues have been simply irresistible this season and that looks set to continue against Palace especially with the potential return of superstar Eden Hazard plus they have only lost 1 of their last 5 games vs the Eagles while winning the other 4 matches.

When it comes to London derbies Chelsea have a most impressive record while Crystal Palace’s record in the capital this campaign is quite the opposite. Chelsea have won the most points in London derbies of all the teams from the capital this season in the Premier League gaining an unrivalled 15 points meanwhile Palace have been defeated in all 5 derbies they have played so far.

Diego Costa has been the leading Premier League goal-scorer for much of the season but he has been surpassed lately by the prolific Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane however the Spaniard is still the 4th leading scorer with 17 goals and he has added 5 assists while his hold-up play has been second to none making him a serious candidate for player of the year. Costa’s next Premier League goal will be his 50th in the League and it will make him the 7th Chelsea player to reach those heights for the club which is a serious accomplishment especially when you consider it will likely have only taken him 81 games to reach that most impressive of milestones. Should he score on Saturday he will only have been beaten to the 50 goal mark by 4 other strikers –  Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Ruud van Nistelrooy and former Blue Fernando Torres.

Chelsea will most probably bulge the net first against Crystal Palace – a trick which they have pulled off on a League leading 22 times so far this campaign while conversely Sam Allardyce’s team have conceded the 1st goal the 2nd most of all Premier League sides (19 times) only being surpassed by basement dwellers Sunderland (20 times).

Palace are currently sitting in 16th position in the League only 4 points above the relegation zone but they are coming into the game against the League leaders on a 3 game winning streak having beaten Middlesbrough, West Brom and Watford while keeping 3 clean sheets. So Sam Allardyce has certainly got the Eagles playing his way now after a slow start and he has made them hard to beat now which is a signature of all his teams and you would expect the former England boss to lead them to safety as his record for winning relegation battles with the clubs he has managed is 2nd to none.

So we can expect a compact and disciplined defensive display from Palace on Saturday but we think Chelsea will still have too much for the Eagles especially since the Blues will likely be welcoming Eden Hazard back into the team as the star Belgian is expected to be recovered from his calf-strain. Therefore we think Chelsea will come out on top by a 3-0 scoreline as Antonio Conte’s men will have way too much offensively for Crystal Palace and their 3 at the back system will be able to comfortably contain the pretty weak attack of Sam Allardyce’s team.