Chelsea predicted line-up vs. Crystal Palace: key change made with £204m quartet set to miss out

Chelsea will hope to build on what was one of their best performances of the season and boost their hopes of forcing their way into the battle for a European place at Crystal Palace on Monday night.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side recovered from their 4-2 home defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers in fine style in midweek as Conor Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez all found the net in a 3-1 FA Cup fourth round replay win at Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

Despite the much-needed positivity injected by the result and performance at Villa Park, Chelsea still lie five points adrift of the top seven ahead of their visit to a Palace side are gradually being sucked into a relegation battle after winning just two of their last ten Premier League games.

Chelsea team news

The vast majority of the issues facing Mauricio Pochettino lie within his defensive ranks and there are a number of big decisions lying in wait for the Blues boss ahead of the meeting with the Eagles. France international Wesley Fofana is definitely out of Monday’s game as he continues to work his way back from the season-ending knee injury he suffered last summer. Marc Cucurella and Reece James are also unavailable with ankle and thigh injuries but are expected to return at some point next month.

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and midfielder Romeo Lavia are both closing in on returns and could be back in contention over the next ten days but there is some hope Pochettino could be boosted by the return of two other players ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park. Levi Colwill is said to be targeting Monday’s game after missing the Blues last two fixtures with a hamstring injury and Trevoh Chalobah could also be available for the first time this season.

Petrovic, Gusto, Badiashile, Silva, Chilwell, Caicedo, Fernandez, Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling, Jackson.