Former Premier League striker Dimitar Berbatov believes Crystal Palace will defeat Chelsea 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Monday night (February 12).
Although seemingly a shock prediction, the Blues have been in poor form in the league. They were beaten 4-2 by Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League last weekend.
However, Mauricio Pochettino’s side managed to come back and beat Aston Villa 3-1 convincingly during their fourth-round FA Cup meeting in midweek.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace are also struggling in the English top flight and suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
Providing a rather bold prediction for the upcoming match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Berbatov said (via Metro):
“Let’s wait and see which team Chelsea are going to field, which side will turn up and how they’re going to play. Crystal Palace are also unpredictable. The Blues are in major trouble and If they lose against Crystal Palace, Pochettino will get closer to the sack. I have the feeling that Chelsea will still suffer, so I’ll go for a Crystal Palace win.”
The Blues are placed 11th in the league standings, 15 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa. On the other hand, Crystal Palace are 14th, seven points adrift of Chelsea.
However, a loss on Monday could throw the Eagles into a relegation battle as they’re just five points clear of the drop zone.
Mauricio Pochettino explains why Chelsea are not up to the mark this season
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino believes that the Blues are struggling in the Premier League because of the number of new signings that the club have made lately.
He claims that the problem isn’t with the youthfulness of the squad but rather with the lack of time players have gotten with one another.
Pochettino said (via Express) in this regard:
“We are a young team, but we have a good balance. We have players like Thiago Silva, 39, Raheem Sterling, [Christopher] Nkunku, 26, or [Axel] Disasi. The problem is not that the players are so young.”
“The problem is that the team is young. With 16 or 17 players that have arrived new from the beginning of the season, you need to build a team,” he added.
Chelsea brought in multiple players last summer, including Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Axel Disasi, and Nicolas Jackson, among others, who are seen as starters.
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