Next Saturday, 18th of October 2014, José Mourinho’s refurbished Chelsea will visit Selhurst Park to go head-to-head with Crystal Palace for round eight of the English Premier League on a match after which the Blues will certainly want to extend their excellent streak this season, as well as remain the only undefeated side of the league.

Chelsea have been definitely enjoying a fantastic moment so far this season and not even the home draw against Schalke 04 for the UEFA Champions League last month is enough to cast a shadow over their recent deeds. José Mourinho initiated a mini-revolution inside the team during the Summer and from what one has been able to witness so far, he really did his “homework” very well.

The Portuguese manager’s tactical improvements, especially his slight change on the midfield triangle, have produced excellent results, as the team looks far more consistent both on their attacking movements and on their defensive positioning.

Last round, Chelsea overcame Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on a very hectic match that included a tepid confrontation between Mourinho and Wenger, with both managers making a fairly poor image of themselves by having that type of attitudes. On the match itself, the Gunners had more ball possession but it was the Blues who, in the end, created more danger and had more shots on goal.

For the next weekend’s complicated match, José Mourinho is not yet certain if he will be able to rely on the contribution of the Belgian wonderboy Hazard and on Ramires, who are currently sidelined due to injury.

As for Crystal Palace, after experiencing a fairly complicated season start with the premature and shocking departure of Tony Pulis, they have managed to pick themselves up and have already showed some good moments so far.

After a row of four league matches without defeats, Crystal Palace lost again on the last round of EPL when they visited Hull City. The Eagles displayed a very decent performance up until Diame’s goal on the 60th minute, but from that moment on they looked somewhat nervous and failed to successfully complete their goal chances.

For the clash against Chelsea, Neil Warnock, is not yet certain if he will be able to count on the contribution of Mariappa, O’keefe and Dann, since they are currently sidelined due to injury.

The Blues are firm favourites for the match and probably not even the recent improvements of the home side will be enough to cause an upset to José Mourinho’s solid team.

Crystal Palace

Stats: W-2 L-2 D-1

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Chelsea

Stats: W-4 L-0 D-1

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Possible Line-ups

Crystal Palace (4-3-3) – Speroni - Ward - Delaney - Hageland - Kelly - Jedinak - McArthur - Ledley - Bolasie - Puncheon - Campbell

Chelsea (4-3-3) – Courtois - Ivanovic - Terry - Cahill - Azpilicueta - Matic - Fàbregas - Schurrle - Willian - Oscar - Diego Costa

Prediction

Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 2