Former Celtic star Chris Sutton has backed Crystal Palace to hold Chelsea to a draw in their upcoming Premier League meeting.
After emerging as unlikely title contenders, Chelsea have hit a bit of a rough patch. Enzo Maresca’s side are without a victory in their last three matches in the Premier League, with their previous two outings ending in defeat. After a drab goalless draw with Everton on Sunday, 22nd December, Chelsea slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Fulham on the 26th. Four days later, Ipswich Town taught the Pensioners a lesson at Portman Road Stadium, inflicting a 2-0 defeat upon them.
Chris Sutton Expects Chelsea to Drop More Points Against Crystal Palace
Chelsea will travel to Selhurst Park for their Premier League appointment with Crystal Palace on Saturday, 4th January. They need a win to get their campaign back on track. Sutton, however, does not think they will have their way against the in-form Eagles.
Predicting the outcome of the game in his BBC column, Sutton wrote:
“Chelsea are having a wobble, and the worry for manager Enzo Maresca is when will it end?
“Their performance in their shock defeat by Ipswich was very flat and although Maresca had made a few changes for that game, I saw nothing to suggest they will bounce back with a win at Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace have only lost two of their past 11 league games, and they seem to have turned a corner.”
He continued:
“This game smells of a draw to me, which will keep Palace moving away from the bottom three, but does not help Chelsea much at the top of the table.
“It looks like Maresca was right when he played down his side’s title chances after people like myself said before Christmas that they were genuine contenders.”
Sutton concluded by adding:
“I thought he was just taking the pressure off his players but he is in the building with them every day and he knows them better than the rest of us.
“Their past three results suggest they are not going to go the distance, and I can see them dropping more points here.”
Sutton’s prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea
In their last five games, Palace have won two, drawn two, and lost one. The sole defeat came against Arsenal (5-1) on the 21st of December.
