Goodnightpublished at 20:30 Greenwich Mean Time 4 January
Thanks for joining us today. Match of the Day is on BBC One at 22:20 GMT. We'll be back for two Premier League games tomorrow including the big one at Anfield.
Chelsea's winless Premier League run has been extended to four games after Jean-Philippe Mateta struck late to salvage a draw for Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The Blues ended 2024 in disappointing fashion - losing successive matches and failing to win in three - and that problematic form has been carried over into 2025.
Cole Palmer got Chelsea off to the perfect start after 14 minutes, scoring his 13th goal in the league after some fine work from Jadon Sancho.
Chelsea pressed for further goals but Nicolas Jackson spurned three chances while Sancho, Moises Caicedo and Josh Acheampong shot wide.
Palace did not muster an effort on target until the 35th minute with Jefferson Lerma's shot comfortably collected by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Despite dominating throughout the first half, Chelsea were almost made to pay for their inability to grab a second when Eberechi Eze shot narrowly wide shortly after the restart.
That was a sign that the game would become more evenly fought with Palace starting to ask questions of a stuttering Chelsea.
The Blues still had further chances to shut out their opponents, however Jackson, Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez all fired wide.
Palace got the equaliser with just under 10 minutes to play when Mateta met Eze's square ball to tap in from a couple of yards.
The Eagles are now unbeaten in three league games and sit 15th, while Chelsea stay fourth.
Palace's season was encapsulated by this encounter at Selhurst Park - inconsistent.
The Eagles have not been able to build momentum through the first half of the campaign, picking up just 20 points from 19 outings.
A lacklustre first half when Palace barely laid a glove on Chelsea was cancelled out by a much-improved performance in the second period.
Palace rarely threatened Sanchez's goal before the break, but showed more courage to get into Chelsea's final third with regularity in the second half.
Scoring goals still remains a major concern for Oliver Glasner's side - only Everton, Ipswich and Southampton have scored fewer than their tally of 21 - but their ability to stick around in games cannot be overlooked.
Mateta was presented with a gift in the 82nd minute when Eze slid the ball across goal for the Frenchman to convert past Sanchez from six yards.
The draw means Palace are still looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone, sitting just six points clear of the bottom three, but offers hope that the new year could bring the consistency and momentum they have been searching for.
Just a matter of weeks ago Chelsea were riding a 12-game unbeaten run across all competitions and being spoken about as potential challengers to Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Fast forward to today and the Blues have failed to win in three, losing their last two games of 2024, and are struggling to score.
Just Liverpool and Tottenham have a better goalscoring record than Chelsea with 39, but they have only registered twice in their past four outings.
After Palmer grabbed his 13th goal of the season, Chelsea looked firmly in the driving seat and should have put the game to bed before half-time.
Jackson could have had a hat-trick but lacked a clinical touch when it mattered.
Chelsea failed to hit the target with any of their six shots in the second half and eventually came unstuck.
A nine-point gap to Liverpool, who also have two games in hand, now looks insurmountable and Chelsea's focus will likely turn to holding on to a top-four spot.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 17 | 28 | 45 |
| |
2 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 18 | 21 | 40 |
| |
3 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 37 |
| |
4 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 39 | 24 | 15 | 36 |
| |
5 | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 22 | 12 | 35 |
| |
6 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 36 | 27 | 9 | 34 |
| |
7 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 33 |
| |
8 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 32 | -2 | 32 |
| |
9 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 28 | 25 | 3 | 29 |
| |
10 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 30 | 29 | 1 | 28 |
| |
11 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 38 | 35 | 3 | 27 |
| |
12 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 30 | 12 | 24 |
| |
13 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 24 | 39 | -15 | 23 |
| |
14 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 21 | 26 | -5 | 22 |
| |
15 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 28 | -7 | 21 |
| |
16 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 17 |
| |
17 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 42 | -11 | 16 |
| |
18 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 33 | -15 | 15 |
| |
19 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 44 | -21 | 14 |
| |
20 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 44 | -32 | 6 |
|
Manager: Oliver Glasner
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Enzo Maresca
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Oliver Glasner
Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1
Manager: Enzo Maresca
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the reverse fixture in September ended a run of 13 consecutive Premier League defeats against the Blues. They’ve not avoided defeat in both league meetings since 1991-92 (D2).
Chelsea have won 12 of their 15 Premier League away games against Crystal Palace (D1 L2) – it’s the joint highest away win rate any side has against another in the competition (80% - min. 10 meetings).
Crystal Palace have lost their opening league match in each of the last three calendar years by an aggregate score of 12-2. All three of these matches have also been London derbies.
Chelsea have only won their opening league match in one of the last eight calendar years (D5 L2), though this was a 1-0 win against Fulham in 2024. They last won their first league game in consecutive years in 2005/2006.
Having lost five of their first eight Premier League games this season (D3), Crystal Palace have now lost just two of their last 11 (W4 D5). However, both defeats in this current run have been in home London derbies (0-2 v Fulham, 1-5 v Arsenal).
Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat against Fulham on Boxing Day ended a seven game unbeaten run in Premier League London derbies for the Blues (W5 D2). However, they’ve won both such games on the road on the season, netting 3+ goals each time (3-0 v West Ham, 4-3 v Tottenham).
30% of Crystal Palace’s Premier League goals this season have been scored by defenders, the highest share in the division (6/20). The Eagles last had more goals scored by defenders overall in a Premier League campaign in 2017-18 (10).
Chelsea have lost their last two Premier League games, as many defeats as they’d suffered in their previous 23 games combined (W15 D6). The Blues last suffered more losses in a row in April/May 2023 during Frank Lampard’s second spell in charge (four).
Eberechi Eze scored Crystal Palace’s goal in their 1-1 draw against Chelsea earlier this season – the only Eagles player to score home and away league goals against the Blues in a single campaign was George Whitworth in 1924-25.
No player was involved in more Premier League goals during 2024 than Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (26 goals, 13 assists), a record by a Blues player in a single year. Indeed, only Erling Haaland (142) had more shots (139) than Palmer, and only Bruno Fernandes (99) created more chances (97) than Palmer.