A tribute to former Chelsea keeper John Phillips has just been shown on the giant screens at Stamford Bridge. The players have just emerged from the tunnel, and kick off is only a few moments away.  

Former Wales, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper John Phillips has died at the age of 65.

Image source, BBC Sport

I asked 15 BBC pundits for their player of the year for 2016-17, and 12 of them picked one of Chelsea pair N'Golo Kante and Eden Hazard.

Kante picked up nine of the votes, but a few went for Hazard because of his flair.

As former Blues boss Ruud Gullit said: "Hazard would get my vote, because he has been extremely important for lots of Chelsea's victories.

"Kante has played a big part as well, of course, but if I was manager and had to choose one of them to be in my team, I would take Hazard.

"They are both unbelievably good at the jobs they do but I like the style of Hazard, he is an exciting player.

Agree with Ruud?

Or do you prefer to go with Alan Shearer, who hails Kante's "incredible energy to protect his back three" and the stats that show he has the highest win percentage of any player to play 25+ Premier League games over the past two seasons. 

Mark Schwarzer
Ex-Fulham keeper on Football Focus

In the last three games Crystal Palace have won and kept clean sheets. It will be very tough at Chelsea today. They are really going to have to rely on Zaha and Townsend to make in-roads into Chelsea’s defence.

It will be a real uphill battle.

Crystal Palace are unchanged but one thing Eagles boss Sam Allardyce will want to be different today is Christian Benteke's form in front of goal.

The big Belgian scored twice for his country against Russia on Tuesday, but has netted only once in his last 13 league appearances for Palace.

Image source, BBC Sport

Eden Hazard has recovered from the calf injury that kept him out of  Chelsea's  last game against Stoke, and meant he missed out on playing for Belgium during the international break.

Hazard starts, but Victor Moses does not make the Blues' squad, meaning Pedro fills in as the right- sided wing-back.

Chelsea XI:  Courtois, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill, Pedro, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Fabregas, Diego Costa, Hazard 

Image source, BBC Sport

Crystal Palace come to Stamford Bridge on the back of three straight wins and Eagles boss Sam Allardyce starts with the same team that beat Watford last time out. 

Palace XI: Hennessey, Ward, Tomkins, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Puncheon, Zaha, Townsend, Benteke

Image source, BBC Sport

The table makes pleasant reading for Chelsea fans right now, with their team 10 points clear, with 10 games remaining. If they win seven of those 10 games, then the title is theirs, no matter what anyone else does.

Crystal Palace supporters are probably pretty happy at the moment too, bearing in mind that three straight wins have seen them climb out of the bottom three and given them a four-point cushion on the relegation zone.

The 'Sam Allardyce effect' took a while to get going, but it is in full effect now - Chelsea beware!

Image source, BBC Sport

So, will Chelsea's charge towards the Premier League title continue this afternoon?

Or will Crystal Palace put a spanner in the works?

Antonio Conte's team do not slip up often at Stamford Bridge, but the Eagles won last time they played here - in August 2015, when Joel Ward scored the winner.

Image source, BBC Sport