Roy wary of wounded Blues

– Roy Hodgson refuses to believe that Chelsea’s current calamities have made them extra vulnerable to an upset at home to his Crystal Palace side.

Antonio Conte’s Premier League champions lost 2-1 to the Eagles in October and have the chance of revenge at Stamford Bridge today.

The Blues will kick off with the aim of putting a turbulent few days behind them that have put Conte under the microscope.

The Italian was roundly criticised for his timid tactics at Manchester City last week, which saw his side lose by the only goal of the game but never really looked like conjuring up an equaliser.

Chelsea are in danger of going four games without victory having won just four of their last 15 fixtures in all competitions.

That has left them out of the Champions League qualification places in fifth place – and they will remain there even if they win.

Hodgson saw his Palace side beaten 3-2 at home by Manchester United on Monday, conceding the third in stoppage-time to remain in the bottom three.

And he refuted any suggestion that it was a good time to be coming up against the champions.

“No, normally when you come up against a team who are not having the best of times, that can be very dangerous,” he said.

“Chelsea are the champions of England. They’ll be champions of England until a new champion is crowned. They have fantastic players, are a brilliantly run and powerful club, and have a very good manager and coaching staff.

“There aren’t too many positives I can take playing Chelsea away. All you can hope for is we can in somehow reproduce the performances we have put in in the last two games.”

Palace have lost four of their last six games and won just twice in 2018.

However, Hodgson has been boosted by the return to training of Wilfried Zaha.

Zaha scored the winner in the game at Selhurst Park but had been expected to miss the remainder of the campaign because of a knee injury.

But the 25-year-old, sidelined since February 4, is likely to be in the squad that travels to Stamford Bridge. – AFP

London

Chelsea are the champions and will be until a new one is crowned.

Roy Hodgson Crystal Palace manager