Chelsea v Crystal Palace: How the Blues Could Line Up With Palmer and Sterling Suspended

• Chelsea lost their four consecutive away games 2-1 against Wolves
• The Blues will have themselves to blame for missing good chances
• They also had two players suspended after getting five yellow cards

Chelsea will host London neighbours Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in a Boxing Day fixture without two suspended attackers.

The Blues fell to a 2-1 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux, their fourth consecutive away loss and their eighth league defeat this season.

Christopher Nkunku scored on his Premier League debut, but it was too late for the team to fight back for a draw, increasing further pressure on Mauricio Pochettino.

On the Premier League table, Chelsea languish in 10th and have been around that position for most of 2023 and won’t leave it even if they beat Crystal Palace by any amount of goals they feel like.

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How Chelsea could lineup against Palace

Per Goal, former Manchester City duo Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer will miss the London derby against Palace after receiving their fifth bookings of the season for diving and dissent, respectively.

The two will be a big miss for Pochettino as they are integral to his attack, but Sterling’s absence will significantly relieve the fans after his poor display against Wolves.

The manager has other options to play against Palace. He could lineup in one of his usual 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, with the main problem being the attack.

If he goes for the first, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke will play on either wing, while Nkunku will play behind one of Nicolas Jackson or Armando Broja.

Jackson could also be dropped after his performance against Wolves, which means Mudryk and Madueke could flank Nkunku as the striker.

The former RB Leipzig forward’s return is a massive boost to the team, but Pouch urged fans to lower their expectations and not burden him.

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Sterling and Palmer drag penalty

Sports Brief reported on Sterling and Palmer arguing over who would take the contentious penalty given to the Blues in their 2-2 draw against Arsenal.

The two former Manchester City stars were dragging the ball before Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez waded in and passed the ball to the 21-year-old, who scored, and the whole team brushed it aside and celebrated the goal.