Three key clashes as Chelsea faces the wily Crystal Palace

Chelsea’s march towards fourth continues as they face off against a solid Crystal Palace side. What three clashes will decide the match?

Chelsea’s win over Watford felt rather routine after the gut punch that was West Ham. Crystal Palace, at least on paper, should be routine as well but it is hard to shake the bogey man status the club seems to have with Chelsea. The Blues have been victorious in the last four, but it remains hard to shake that Palace has something up their sleeve at all times. What clashes will determine if Palace has some magic or is all smoke and mirrors?

1. Rotation versus consistency

When it comes to rotating their sides, both Frank Lampard and Roy Hodgson come from the same school of thought: do it as minimally as possible.

For Palace, it is halfway out of necessity. They simply do not have the depth to tinker constantly. Chelsea does have the luxury, but Lampard often opts to play the in form players until they have been run into the ground and their form disappears.

Normally, those factors would be somewhat mitigated. But because there is a match roughly every three days after months of layoff, the effects of little rest are readily apparent. Even when winning, Chelsea looks like a team running on empty. Of course, so does every other team. It becomes a battle of fitness the longer the season continues.

Hodgson is virtually guaranteed to select his normal XI, plus or minus a player or two. Lampard, traditionally, would as well but he has the depth available to rotate. He may fear that depth coming at the expense of consistency, but the Blues do not have enough of that to run everyone into the ground before the season’s end.

2. Overlapping fullbacks versus exploiting wingers

Lampard, like most “modern” managers, likes his full backs to push up and overlap or join the midfield in support. Hodgson, not so much a “modern” manager, knows most he faces will try some variation of this so he focuses his play through the wingers on the flanks.

Palace will coil up and pack it in on defense as they try to win the ball back in the wider areas. Once they do, their wingers will use their bag of tricks to attempt to blast their way straight to the Chelsea goal. Their wingers have the speed and, more importantly, the technique to harass the full backs as they get caught out.

This has, of course, been a weak spot for Chelsea throughout the season. Of the four full backs, one is arguably suited and capable of performing the role. The rest are a mishmash of suited and capable depending on what side of bed they get out of that day. Hodgson will know this, he will find a flank, and he will have the winger on that side exploit that player on repeat.

Control the flank and control the game. That will need to be Lampard’s mantra to the team this week. His full backs will need to stay sharp so as not to give Palace any advantage the Blues are not prepared to overcome.

3. Gary Cahill versus the point to prove

Chelsea cannot play Palace without the obligatory Gary Cahill mention. It still remains a mystery as to how he was so completely snubbed last season for “not fitting the system” when he has gone to Palace and basically shown how silly all of that nonsense is. He is not perfect by any means, but he at the very least has stitched a Palace defense together in a way not seen in years.

That is made all the more infuriating by the complete lack of leadership at the back this season. Cahill may not have made Chelsea’s defense a championship one, but he surely could have improved it. His lack of speed and alleged lack of ability to play the ball surely cannot be as bad as some of the performances put up by others this season.

Cahill himself will surely know all of this and he will, once again, have a point to prove. He will do all he can to stop his former teammates from scoring to show that a mistake was made last season. The Blues need to do their best to prevent that.

What clashes do you expect against Palace? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!