Crystal Palace vs Chelsea - LIVE!

Chelsea’s winless run was extended to four matches as Jean-Philippe Mateta earned Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.

It had been a confident start to this London derby from Chelsea, who were dominant early on and got their reward when Cole Palmer rolled a finish into the far corner after brilliant work out wide from Jadon Sancho. Palmer could have had his second, had Pedro Neto’s cut-back been a better one, while Nicolas Jackson and Josh Acheampong, handed a first Premier League, failed to hit the target with big chances.

Those missed opportunities felt increasingly important as Palace’s threat grew in the second-half and so it proved. Palmer was caught on the ball and the hosts took full advantage, finding Eberechi Eze and he rolled the ball across the face of goal for Mateta to turn in with ten minutes remaining. Neither side came particularly close to finding a late winner, with the point a far more useful one to Palace than Chelsea.

Crystal Palace vs Chelsea latest news

• GOAL! Mateta fires in equaliser for Palace

• GOAL! Palmer puts Chelsea in front

FT: Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:53 , Matt Verri

And that’s full-time at Selhurst Park.

Chelsea now four matches without a win, made to pay for not taking their chances in the first-half.

Palace grew and grew in confidence, and Mateta earns them a point.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:51 , Matt Verri

90+3 mins: Good defending from Colwill, as Palace suddenly look like they fancy a late winner.

Lerma going to launch a long throw into the box...

Flicked on at the near post, before Lacroix then tries his luck from distance. Straight at Sanchez.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:49 , Matt Verri

90 mins: Four minutes added on.

Caicedo throws himself to the ground out wide, linesman has no interest but referee eventually gives the free-kick.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:46

88 mins: Palace fans screaming for a second yellow card, after Fernandez brings down Lacroix.

Palace defender did a good job of making that look a lot worse than it was.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:45 , Matt Verri

86 mins: Changes from both camps.

Madueke on for Chelsea, replacing Sancho, while Nketiah is introduced as Eze makes way for the hosts.

Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea

16:42 , Matt Verri

84 mins: it will not surprise you to hear that Selhurst Park is bouncing now.

Chelsea have work to do just to leave here with a point.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

16:41 , Matt Verri

To say that has been coming would be an understatement.

It’s a carbon copy of the game at Stamford Bridge - Chelsea made to pay for missing a hatful of chances.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea | Jean-Philippe Mateta 82'

16:41 , Matt Verri

PALACE LEVEL!

Palmer with an error to lose the ball and he’s punished.

Eze played in, he rolls it across the face of goal and Mateta can’t miss.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:39 , Matt Verri

80 mins: Fair to say Fernandez knew what he was doing there.

Munoz knocked it past him and the Chelsea man trips him up - doesn’t bother arguing with the booking.

Maresca turns to his bench, Guiu on for Jackson.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:36 , Matt Verri

78 mins: There are still glimpses of Chelsea clicking into gear in attack again.

Lovely flowing move, ball cut back to Neto but his shot is charged down and Palace can clear.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:34 , Matt Verri

75 mins: Groans from the home fans, as Neto goes down and gets the decision.

He did sort of just run into Lerma, who had nowhere to go.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:31 , Matt Verri

73 mins: Chances coming at both ends now.

Munoz is right up the pitch pressing and he robs Sancho, before playing in Mateta.

Only a brilliant block from Colwill denies the Palace striker.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:29 , Matt Verri

71 mins: Better from Chelsea, first meaningful attack in a while.

Fernandez passes it just wide from the edge of the area - but Chelsea are on the attack again seconds later.

Lacroix with the error, Jackson pounces but drags the low strike wide.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:27 , Matt Verri

69 mins: Here come Palace again...

Munoz away down the right yet again, cuts it back and Gusto has to fly into the challenge to stop Eze getting a shot away.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:25 , Matt Verri

67 mins: Cucurella very tight to Sarr... too tight. Had no interest in letting him turn there.

Chelsea need to be careful in these last 25 minutes or so, Palace are growing in confidence.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:22 , Matt Verri

64 mins: VAR confirms that decision.

Starting to get heated, though. Colwill absolutely flies on Doucoure, not a good challenge at all.

Yellow card and he can be happy with that.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:21 , Matt Verri

62 mins: Sancho has been really impressive with his work off the ball today.

Sarr briefly thinks he might be charging straight through on goal, but Sancho pops up at left-back to shrug him off.

At the other end, Neto goes down in the box... referee not interested.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:18 , Matt Verri

59 mins: Chelsea doing a better job of keeping the ball, establishing some control again.

Finding it much harder to find Palmer since half-time, but they do so here and he picks out Sancho.

Ball clipped in, Jackson can’t get on the end of it.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:14 , Matt Verri

56 mins: Eze whips the free-kick in from out wide, Richards powers the header at goal and Sanchez is at full-stretch to tip it over.

Corner swung to the back post, Sanchez does well to claim it under pressure.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:13 , Matt Verri

55 mins: Caicedo all of a sudden decides to start kicking anything that moves. That includes Munoz... free-kick.

Palace fans are up, their side are having a good spell.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:11 , Matt Verri

52 mins: Gusto whips the cross in, Neto misses the flick and Jackson then has a swipe at thin air.

All very scrappy at the moment from Chelsea, who now found themselves in a real match.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

16:07 , Matt Verri

49 mins: Eze wastes a huge chance to make it 1-1!

Sarr drives forward and plays it wide to Munoz.

He picks out Eze perfectly, and the first-time finish is sent wide of the far corner. Had to score.

Back underway!

16:04 , Matt Verri

Up and running in the second-half.

Blues lacking clinical edge

15:54 , Matt Verri

Just the one shot on target for Chelsea, but they could easily have scored more goals.

Jackson and Acheampong both failed to hit the target with big chances, while Palmer would surely have doubled the lead had Neto played a fairly simple ball into his path.

Could come back to cost Chelsea.

HT: Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:48 , Matt Verri

That’s half-time at Selhurst.

Chelsea dominant early on and took the lead through Palmer.

Should really have scored at least a couple more since then, but they haven’t and it means Palace are still right in this match.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:45 , Matt Verri

44 mins: It is crazy how much space Palmer is continuing to get. Just standing by himself in the No10 role.

Allowed to turn, stroll towards goal and, for once, the finish is a bit wild. High and wide.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:43 , Matt Verri

Amusing stuff.

Sanchez lines up his wall, but then Palmer goes and stands where the free-kick is being taken and effectively says: “Mate, I’d have no trouble curling it into the top corner from there”.

He gets everyone to shuffle half-a-yard and Eze’s free-kick ploughs into the man on the end.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:42 , Matt Verri

42 mins: Eze takes his time... and then lashes it halfway up the wall.

Not particularly worth the wait.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:41 , Matt Verri

41 mins: Very generous free-kick for Palace, after Caicedo is deemed to have given Mateta a nudge in the air. Not sure about that.

Eze lining this up, 25 yards out.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:39 , Matt Verri

This is starting to feel an awful lot like the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, when Chelsea were 1-0 up and should have been out of sight by half-time.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:39 , Matt Verri

38 mins: But here’s another chance to make it 2-0.

Palmer once again has far, far, far, far too much space and can play Jackson in behind.

He cuts inside, goes for the finish with the outside of his right foot and it’s just wide.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:38 , Matt Verri

37 mins: Neto clips a decent cross in, but nobody there in the middle and Palace see it out for a goal-kick.

It’s definitely turned into a more competitive match as we head towards half-time.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:36 , Matt Verri

35 mins: Palace’s best moment, even if that isn’t a particularly high bar.

Ball switched out to Munoz, great first touch. He rolls it back to Mateta, and the first-time effort curls just wide of the far post.

Took a slight deflection, so it will be a corner.

Mateta has parked himself right on top of Sanchez. Good header from Colwill at the near post to clear, before Lerma’s low strike is saved.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:34 , Matt Verri

33 mins: Henderson very nearly caught on the ball, he can only poke the ball towards the corner flag and Jackson gets there first.

Palace looking a real mess at the back.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:31 , Matt Verri

I can’t believe how high a line Palace are playing here.

Chelsea struggled badly against teams who sat in their last two away games.

Here, there’s no pressure on the ball so Palmer is getting on it really easily, but then the runners ahead of him also have acres in behind to charge into.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:29 , Matt Verri

28 mins: Lacroix just about turns the ball behind for a corner - that could very easily have flown into his own net.

Palmer swings it to the back post, Acheampong completely free but he somehow heads it wide!

Huuuuge chance.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:27 , Matt Verri

Oh dear, oh dear. Pedro Neto did all the hard work after both Guehi and Mitchell got their angles wrong and showed him too much of the line.

But the cut-back should have been a simple one for 2-0 and probably game over already.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:27 , Matt Verri

26 mins: Should be 2-0!

Palmer completely free in the middle, but Neto skips past his man and to the byline first.

Eventually he does fire the low ball into the middle, Palmer can’t make contact on the stretch. Neto had to pick him out.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:26 , Matt Verri

25 mins: Palace seeing a bit more of the ball, getting themselves into the match. Not really threatening, though.

Doucoure now bemused as the whistle goes after a challenge on Fernandez.

Add that to the ‘questionable’ list.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:23 , Matt Verri

Abysmal piece of refereeing, that.

Having let play carry on for about 30 seconds after Palace were offside, Tim Robinson waits until Chelsea nick it on halfway and Neto is away to decide to pull it all the way back.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:23 , Matt Verri

22 mins: Chelsea players, and Maresca, less than impressed.

They look to be away on the break, lots of space there for them... but the whistle goes.

It’s for a Chelsea free-kick, brought back for an offside - should have played advantage.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:20 , Matt Verri

19 mins: Jackson cleaned out, free-kick Chelsea in a bit of an awkward position 35 yards out. Fairly central.

Palmer dinks it in, flicked on perfectly and Jackson slices the volley wide at the back post!

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

15:18 , Matt Verri

17 mins: Chelsea have been full of confidence from the first whistle.

Palmer up to 13 goals in the league this season - only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland in front of him.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:16 , Matt Verri

Cole Palmer’s 13th Premier League goal of the season is made by a piece of brilliance from Jadon Sancho.

If you give it a couple of minutes, you’ll spot Chris Richards sneaking back into Selhurst Park through the turnstiles.

GOAL! Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea | Cole Palmer 14'

15:15 , Matt Verri

STUNNING!

That’s such a good goal.

All came from Sancho’s run down the left, a wonderful dummy and then twisting past the challenges.

Slides it through to Palmer, who passes it into the far corner.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Chelsea

15:13 , Matt Verri

12 mins: First sign of a Palace attack and there’s nothing subtle about it.

Ball clipped over the top for Sarr, Cucurella just about gets back in time to hack it out of play.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:11

That’s a superb block from Chris Richards because there was nothing wrong with either Palmer’s pass or Jackson’s touch.

Chelsea have started brightly, though.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Chelsea

15:11 , Matt Verri

9 mins: Brilliant challenge from Richards!

Palmer slides a great pass through to Jackson, he’s in on goal but Richards gets across and throws his body in the way to block the shot.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

15:08 , Matt Verri

Chelsea’s first two corners of the afternoon are from opposite flanks but both aimed right in on top of the goalkeeper, with the visitors piling players into a very congested area.

Nothing comes of them, but it’s not Chelsea’s usual routine so looks a specific ploy.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Chelsea

15:07 , Matt Verri

6 mins: First corner of the match for Chelsea, Fernandez to take.

Whipped in to the near post, gets a flick and all the way through... for another corner.

Palmer takes it on the other side, Palace clear this one and Fernandez does well to stop Eze breaking.

Crystal Palace 0-0 Chelsea

15:04 , Matt Verri

3 mins: Chelsea seeing plenty of the ball, Crystal Palace with no real interest in pressing the centre-backs.

Neto skips to the byline, digs out a decent cross to the back post... wild volley from Sancho.

KICK-OFF!

15:01 , Matt Verri

We’re up and running!

Here we go!

14:56 , Matt Verri

Teams are out onto the pitch in south London.

Chelsea were made to wait for a few minutes in what is near enough the car park.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

14:53 , Matt Verri

Maresca on Acheampong: “He has energy, he’s fresh. Since we started, we’ve known he is a good player.

“He is very young so he knows he needs to focus and probably it will be tough but I think he is ready.”

Not long now!

14:45 , Matt Verri

This is your 15-minute warning.

Warm-ups coming to an end at Selhurst Park, kick-off fast approaching.

Feels like the start to this match could be crucial for Chelsea. Back-to-back defeats, need to get that confidence going again.

Elsewhere in London...

14:36 , Matt Verri

It’s more misery for Tottenham.

They have been beaten 2-1 by Newcastle in north London in the lunchtime kick-off, making it just one win in eight Premier League matches.

We’ve been talking about Crystal Palace being in danger of slipping into a relegation battle - victory this afternoon and they’ll be a point behind Spurs!

Similar drama?

14:31 , Matt Verri

Chelsea left it late the last time they were at Selhurst Park.

Conor Gallagher was the hero against his former club - fairly confident in saying he won’t be scoring the winner today.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

14:18 , Matt Verri

Big chance for the Chelsea teenager to impress and push his case for more opportunities...

Maresca backs Colwill to keep stepping up

14:11 , Matt Verri

Enzo Maresca has backed Levi Colwill to become a future Chelsea captain and revealed that fellow centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo has emerged as the most vocal leader in the Blues’s dressing room.

Maresca desperately needs his senior players to step up and arrest an alarming slump that saw Chelsea take only one point from three Premier League games over the festive period.

Maresca’s squad is the youngest in the top flight and he has previously admitted there are a lack of natural leaders in his squad, with the Italian particularly critical of club captain Reece James, but Colwill has impressed him

“I can see the leader day by day, since we started in pre-season, something that he can improve in terms of leadership,” Maresca said of Colwill. “He is improving a lot.

“Levi, even if he is not wearing the armband, he is one of the captains and in the future, he could be a captain of this club. Since we started, he is improving a lot.”

Maresca revealed that Tosin - the oldest player he has used in the league this season at 27 - is another whose leadership skills are becoming increasingly valuable.

“Sometimes you have different kinds of leaders,” he added. “Leaders that don’t talk much but when they do the rest listen a lot.

“We have different kinds of characters. The one that is most vocal in the dressing room is Tosin. But they are different all of them.”

As it stands...

14:02 , Matt Verri

Chelsea sit fourth in the table, but have the chance to go up to third at least until Nottingham Forest face Wolves on Monday.

Victory for the Blues would move them to within seven points of Liverpool, but the Reds would have two games in hand.

As for Crystal Palace, they are only five points clear of the relegation zone.

Don’t want to be hanging around that close heading into the final months of the season.

Malik Ouzia at Selhurst Park

13:54 , Matt Verri

In his press conference yesterday, Oliver Glasner said he did not think Chelsea could “surprise” his Crystal Palace side.

Not sure he’d have predicted a start for Josh Acheampong today, and certainly not at centre-back.

Crystal Palace team news

13:49 , Matt Verri

Starting XI: Henderson, Munoz, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Doucoure, Sarr, Eze, Mateta

Subs: Turner, Nketiah, Schlupp, Clyne, Kamada, Riad, Devenny, Kporha, Agbinone

Chelsea team news

13:46 , Matt Verri

Starting XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Acheampong, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo, Neto, Palmer, Sancho, Jackson

Subs: Jorgensen, Disasi, Tosin, Veiga, James, Madueke, Felix, Nkunku, Guiu

In the building!

13:35

The hosts have arrived at Selhurst Park.

All the team news coming up in the next ten minutes or so.

Chelsea hit with FA charge

13:25 , Matt Verri

Chelsea have been charged by the FA for “failing to ensure their players did not behave in a way which was improper” in their Premier League defeat at Ipswich.

Blues players were left incensed with referee John Brooks when Ipswich were awarded a penalty at Portman Road after VAR ruled goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen fouled Liam Delap.

A number of Chelsea players surrounded Brooks. Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill were both booked for dissent and Fernandez had to be held back from arguing with Ipswich players.

Explaining the decision at the time the Premier League said in a statement: “The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Jorgensen on Delap was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty.”

Delap then put Ipswich ahead from the spot and Chelsea went on to lose 2-0.

Chelsea have until January 7 to respond to the charge.

Chelsea unable to recall Chalobah

13:14 , Matt Verri

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has left the door open to further loan recalls this month, but Trevoh Chalobah will not prove the answer to the club’s centre-back injury crisis.

The Blues are light at the heart of defence heading into the second half of the season, after Maresca confirmed lengthy spells on the sidelines for both Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana.

Fofana could miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury sustained against Aston Villa at the start of last month, while Badiashile, who had briefly stepped up as his deputy, will not return until February at the earliest after suffering a hamstring problem of his own.

On Friday, the Blues confirmed that 19-year-old defender Aaron Anselmino has been recalled from his loan spell at Boca Juniors, having been sent straight back to the Argentine outfit after signing for Chelsea last summer.

Chalobah, who joined Palace on a season-long loan on August’s deadline day, will be ineligible for today’s clash with his parent club.

The 25-year-old has started all but one of the Eagles’s last 13 Premier League games, scoring three goals in that time, and on Friday, Glasner hinted that he is keen to make the deal permanent.

Recalling Chalobah has been mooted as a short-term solution to Chelsea’s shortage at centre-back but it is understood that his loan agreement did not include a mid-season break clause.

Stage is set!

13:08 , Matt Verri

It’s a very cold afternoon in south London...

Standard Sport prediction

13:01 , Matt Verri

With Palace solid of late and Chelsea stalling, it could prove to be a fairly tight encounter.

The Blues have not been quite so impressive in attack in recent weeks, and could be frustrated again.

Draw, 1-1.

Chelsea team news

12:53 , Matt Verri

Chelsea could have Romeo Lavia back this afternoon, but Enzo Maresca has revealed some very bad news on the defensive injury front.

Midfielder Lavia has missed the last four Premier League matches with a hamstring problem, a run that has coincided with Chelsea’s marked dip in form during the festive period.

“Romeo is very close, he started to work with us,” manager Maresca confirmed in a rare piece of good injury news during Friday’s pre-match press conference.

Maresca, however, confirmed that defender Wesley Fofana is set to be out for a “very long time” with a serious hamstring problem that could even end his season. Fellow centre-back Benoit Badiashile will also be sidelined until at least next month.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall remains out injured, but captain Reece James is available again having made his return to the fold as an unused substitute during the 2-0 defeat by Ipswich earlier this week.

Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

Crystal Palace team news

12:46 , Matt Verri

Palace skipper Marc Guehi will return from the one-match suspension he served during the Saints game.

Adam Wharton and Matheus Franca are injured. Will Hughes will also miss the game, while Trevoh Chalobah cannot face his parent club.

How to watch Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

12:39 , Matt Verri

TV channel and live stream: Today’s game will not be shown live in the UK as it takes place during the 3pm TV blackout still imposed across English football on Saturdays.

Free Highlights: BBC One’s Match of the Day will broadcast highlights when it airs at 10:20pm GMT on Saturday night.

LIVE coverage: Follow all the action right here, featuring expert analysis from Chelsea correspondent Malik Ouzia at Selhurst.

Good afternoon!

12:30 , Matt Verri

Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE coverage of Crystal Palace vs Chelsea!

A London derby to kick things off in 2025 for these two clubs and both could really do with a successful start to the year.

Chelsea have dropped off the pace at the top of the table after a three-match winless run, while Palace are only five points clear of the relegation zone.

We’ll have all the latest updates and build-up ahead of kick-off, which comes at 3pm GMT from Selhurst Park!