Chelsea aim to avoid equalling 45-year-old losing streak in Crystal Palace clash

Chelsea will be bidding to avoid equalling a 45-year-old streak when they face Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening.

Mauricio Pochettino's opening stint at Stamford Bridge has been somewhat mixed, with the positive being a run to the EFL Cup semi-finals where they are awaiting a two-legged tie with Middlesbrough.

However, their ambitions to return to the Champions League are very much on the backburner after an inconsistent period in the Premier League.

As many as eight defeats have been posted in 18 matches, with the most recent of those setbacks occurring on Christmas Eve as Chelsea went down to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.

The West Londoners now sit in 11th position in the standings ahead of playing host to the Eagles, who only sit four points adrift of Chelsea themselves.

Pochettino's focus is on ensuring that Chelsea challenge for seventh place as a bare minimum, yet he may also be wary of an unwanted streak that he could equal.

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Throughout 2023, Chelsea have already posted 23 defeats in all competitions, something that has not been endured in their recent memory.

Should they lose to Palace on Wednesday night, it would be the first time since 1978 that they have suffered 24 losses in all competitions in a calendar year.

The other 16 defeats were shared between Graham Potter and Frank Lampard during the second half of 2022-23, contributing to neither Englishman being retained in the long term.

On a positive note for Chelsea, they will be attempting to record a 12th successive victory over one of their London neighbours, while Chelsea have also registered back-to-back league wins over Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield United.

Furthermore, Pochettino is looking to retain a perfect record in matches against Roy Hodgson, with five successive wins being recorded all with clean sheets.

Nevertheless, Chelsea have gone four London derbies without success and are looking to avoid a fifth such game without a win for the first time since 1995-96.