Will Crystal Palace get its first win of the season? First goal? Not likely vs. Chelsea.
Bettors can get 4/9 at BMR’s best bookmakers green list on Chelsea beating Crystal Palace in the Premiership at the weekend, and that looks to be an extremely attractive price. Chelsea may have lost to Man City last time out and seen Alvaro Morata fall victim to a hamstring injury, but they are still fourth in the table and they are the defending champions. They are strong at the back, powerful in midfield and brilliant at forward.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace are rock bottom of the table, having lost all seven of their games. They have not scored a single goal. It has been the most miserable start to a campaign for any Premiership club in recent memory and they will come into this game extremely low on confidence. Chelsea can capitalise and take all three points in what should be a total mismatch.
The gulf in class between the two teams is huge. Chelsea have Eden Hazard returning to peak fitness and he will relish the opportunity to terrorise a defence that has shipped 17 goals in seven games. In their last two games, Crystal Palace lost 4-0 to Man Utd and 5-0 to Man City. Chelsea are up there with the Manchester clubs in the top three teams in EPL and should pulverise Crystal Palace in similar fashion.
It all makes the 4/9 on offer at Betway look fantastic. Many bookmakers have Chelsea at 2/5 or 4/11 and they look like good prices for an accumulator. But for a larger stake, 4/9 on a Chelsea win looks great. The odds are drifting for no apparent reason – perhaps some daring punters are tempted by the 11/1 on Crystal Palace taking a home win – and you may even get a better price if you hold off a bit.
Another great option would be Chelsea to win to nil at 5/4 with Boyle Sports. Crystal Palace have not scored yet this season and Chelsea have only conceded three goals in their last six league games. They are an excellent side and beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Spain recently, highlighting their quality. Their exertions in Madrid left them tired for the Man City game and they were punished, but they will be well-prepared and rested for the Crystal Palace game and should win by a comfortable scoreline. You can get 7/10 with Bet Victor on Chelsea -1 Asian handicap and that looks another excellent bet, or you could push it to -1.5 and take odds of 9/7 with Bet Victor.
Now that Morata is out, Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi should come to the fore. He has impressed this season when given a chance and bagged the winner in the 94th minute against Atletico. He is sharp and dynamic and has a great eye for goal — and will be a great threat to this cumbersome Crystal Palace defence. Unibet is offering 6/5 on Batshuayi scoring at any time in this match and that looks intriguing.
In the relegation market, Palace are now the favourites at 8/15 with Paddy Power, Sky Bet and various others to go down. They are 9/4 with Blacky Type to stay up, so the bookmakers are predicting a long and miserable campaign for the Eagles. They have already sacked manager Frank De Boer, and replacement Roy Hodgson’s first four games were against Southampton, Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea, so he would not have expected much from that run of fixtures. Lo and behold, they have taken zero points for three and Chelsea can compound their misery on Saturday with a resounding victory that boosts their own title credentials.
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