Premier League
Apr 1, 2017 3.00pm
1
2
HT : 1 2
FT
  • Cesc Fabregas 5' goal
  • Diego Costa 50' yellowcard
  • Gary Cahill 79' yellowcard
  • David Luiz 83' yellowcard
  • goal Wilfried Zaha 9'
  • goal Christian Benteke 11'
  • yellowcard Christian Benteke 68'
  • yellowcard Luke Milivojevic 73'

Team News: Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas start for Chelsea

Costa, Hazard, Fabregas start for Chelsea

Antonio Conte has named a strong starting XI as Chelsea welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge this afternoon.

The Italian makes two changes to the side that claimed a 2-1 victory at Stoke City before the international break, with a fit-again Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas both coming in alongside Diego Costa up front.

Victor Moses misses out with a calf injury and Willian drops to the bench, with N'Golo Kante, Pedro, Nemanja Matic and Marcos Alonso patrolling the middle of the park in a 3-4-3 formation.

Conte sticks with a back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz and Gary Cahill ahead of Thibaut Courtois, who has overcome a hip complaint to start between the sticks.

For the visitors, Sam Allardyce names an unchanged lineup as he seeks a fourth straight win in the league.

Christian Benteke continues up front, with attacking support from Wilfried Zaha, Jason Puncheon and Andros Townsend.

Yohan Cabaye and Luka Milivojevic operate at defensive midfield, ahead of a back four of Joel Ward, James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho and Jeffrey Schlupp, while Wayne Hennessey continues between the sticks.

Chelsea: Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill; Pedro, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Fabregas, Diego Costa, Hazard Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Terry, Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Batshuayi

Crystal Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Tomkins, Sakho, Schlupp; Milivojevic, Cabaye; Puncheon, Zaha, Townsend; Benteke Subs: Speroni, Dann, Delaney, Kelly, Ledley, Kaikai, Sako

Keep up with all of the action from Stamford Bridge this afternoon with Sports Mole's live text commentary here.

Author photo

Written by

Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter

Get FREE daily news and in-depth previews for games from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football — straight to your inbox.

Subscribe