Mason Mount Chelsea England
Mason Mount Chelsea

Chelsea are still trying to find their feet under their new manager and in such a scenario, they will take on Crystal Palace, a team who play brilliantly against the bigger Premier League sides.

Palace put on a proper show against both Liverpool and Manchester City this season so Potter and his players will need to be at their absolute best if they wish to avoid another upset.

Graham Potter used a 4-2-3-1 formation against Salzburg but Chelsea ended up drawing that game 1-1. We are expecting the manager to make a change in formation because he’s someone who likes to play with three central defenders and two wing-backs.

Historically, Chelsea have a great record against Crystal Palace but this is a Blues side that is under transition so three points are far from guaranteed. Most of the players are starting with a clean slate under the new boss so this is also a chance for them to win Graham Potter’s trust.

Chelsea’s team news vs Crystal Palace:

Edouard Mendy has recovered from his injury and has also returned to training this week so the keeper is going to reprise his role on Saturday.

Cucurella played as the left-back against Salzburg but a change in the system will see the summer signing move to the wing-back role as Koulibaly comes back into the side.

Thiago Silva played two games for Brazil during the international break so ideally he should be rested but we don’t think Potter will take the risk of keeping his most experienced player on the bench.

N’Golo Kante missed international duty due to a hamstring injury and the Frenchman is not expected to be fit in time to feature against Crystal Palace either.

With Kante likely to sit out, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho should once again pair up in central midfield.

Mason Mount has not been in great form this season but he had a wonderful 45 minutes for England in their final Nations League game against Germany. Based purely on that form, Graham Potter should hand him a starting role but then again, the Chelsea boss has tons of options in that attacking midfielder’s role.

Aubameyang moved to Chelsea in the hopes of playing under Thomas Tuchel but now that the German is gone, the forward will have to quickly adjust to the new scenes or else he is going to fall down the pecking order.

Chelsea predicted line up vs Crystal Palace:

Predicted Starting XI(3-4-2-1): Mendy; Silva, Koulibaly, Fofana; Cucurella, Reece James, Jorginho, Kovacic; Mount/Havertz, Sterling; Aubameyang.

Chelsea predicted line up vs Crystal Palace - EPL 22/23
Chelsea predicted line up vs Crystal Palace – EPL 22/23