Chelsea must avoid defeat at home to Crystal Palace as the club continues to suffer through a barren run.
“We are suffering at the moment. We’re suffering, the fans are suffering. We feel for them,” said manager Graham Potter. “It’s important to stick together and try to get through this tough period.”
The Blues are at home off the back of a 2-1 defeat to London rivals Fulham. The loss was the first at Craven Cottage for 16 years and the news afterwards was bleak.
Chelsea are 10th with the top four race almost over for them – 10 points off fourth-placed Manchester United who have a game in hand. – and now will be without two more players. New loan signing Joao Felix was sent off on his debut and Denis Zakaria was injured in the loss.
Chelsea crashed out of the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday with a 4-0 thrashing at Manchester City.
The good news is that they face Palace next; a side that hasn’t won at Stamford Bridge since 2017.
The last few head to heads have been fruitful for Chelsea; four wins and 11 goals scored with none conceded.
Palace arrive just three points behind their hosts and with two wins in their last five games. Chelsea must start well if they want to bank their first Premier League win in four games. Potter’s job depends on it.