Image source, Reuters

The surface at Selhurst Park was looking pristine earlier in the evening.

Given it is currently being watered heavily before the teams emerge it should be pretty slick by kick-off.

I hope the players have gone with studs rather than the moulds.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport at Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace fans have been calling for Roy Hodgson to give Matheus Franca more opportunities in the league. He has only started one game this season and that was in the FA Cup. He's highly rated by those at the club who brought him in and his highlight reel of his time at Flamengo is impressive. It's a tough ask but if he is able to perform tonight it could really kick start his Palace career.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson, speaking to Sky Sports: "It's testing of course. The fans show their displays and it is a nightmare scenario really. If we can get some sort of balance of that, we've two of our last four games. We need to get a grip on that and four of our most important players can't play. We've been to testing places like Arsenal. I'm still confident in the players here and we will get those players who are injured back hopefully sometime soon. We are having to scrap a lot to get through the games."

On the players: "They've done that in the last two home games. We've had some good wins and scored goals. Where we've let ourselves and the fans down is in the two away games. Brighton was a game where we weren't able to play with Olise or Eze and we lost our captain after 15 minutes. Football sometimes produces these storms that are hard to negotiate.

"I'm happy with the week of training. I'm quite confident tonight. It is Chelsea and they have a lot of very good players. I'm counting on these lads and two making their debuts. Hopefully we'll show the fans there's a lot of life and fight in this team."

On tonight: "It's hard against these good teams when you go down early. It's giving them a goal to start, it makes life even harder. Having said that, words don't ensure that happens. It's about how the team performs against this strong Chelsea team."

Chris Sutton
Former Blackburn striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

It is where we are in the season now which is a worry for Palace. There is a section of fans that wants a different brand of football but at this moment in time is it not best to just get behind the team, stay in the league and address things at the end of the season?

The goal now is simply just staying in the league however they do it.

Andros Townsend
Former Crystal Palace midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

It was always going to be a transitional period with Wilf Zaha leaving the club.

At the start of the season they appeared to be dealing with it well but do you try and still be on the front foot without Eberechi Eze or Michael Olise and that creative spark?

Or do they - like Roy Hodgson is known for - try to be tough to break down and play on the counter-attack? I understand what the manager is doing.

Image source, Getty Images

Half of Palace's 26 Premier League goals this season have been scored or assisted by at least one of Eberechi Eze or Michael Olise, who are both out injured.

The Eagles have won just one of the six league matches in which neither Eze nor Olise have started this season - a 2-0 win at Burnley in November.

Image source, Getty Images

Conor Gallagher is back on familiar territory this evening. The Chelsea and England midfielder scored eight times in 33 appearances while on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021-22.

I'd imagine those in the Holmesdale Road Stand wish they could still call upon his services.

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Chelsea haven't exactly been the most reliable side this term to put it mildly.

The Blues come into this one in danger of losing three league games in a row for the first time this season.

They could also concede multiple goals in seven successive league away matches for the first time since 1990 and Mauricio Pochettino's men have lost five of their last six away fixtures in the Premier League.

Mark Scott
BBC Radio 5 Live commentator

The Crystal Palace supporters have been urging Roy Hodgson to give Matheus Franca more minutes and he gets his first league start this evening.

After the thumping league loss both suffered just over a week ago this felt like a showdown between the two managers under the most pressure in the Premier League but that FA Cup win at Aston Villa has given Mauricio Pochettino more breathing space.

Given Crystal Palace's slide down the Premier League, the team at BBC Sport have been asking Eagles fans what their prospects are for the rest of the season and it does not appear very positive at all...

Kevin: No team is too good to go down, ask Leicester fans. Roy has plan A (give it to Eze or Olise), plan B (park the bus badly) and nothing else. It is all too easy for opponents. Palace will stay up, but only due to FFP points deductions and two of the promoted teams being so poor.

Mark:If Everton or Forest don't get a points deduction then Palace will be relegated. Roy is stubborn and out of date with football. How can you expect to win games if you don't take risks? Clueless.

Adrian: No team is ever too good to go down. If you don't win matches, you don't get points - and teams are not awarded points on the quality of their squads. Palace could go down, for sure - but they have sufficient quality - even without Guehi, Eze, Rak-Sakyi, Doucoure and Olise - to win enough games and stay up.

Les: Without Olise and Eze we look an ordinary Championship side where we will be next season if things don’t improve. This is the worst situation in years and the fans need to get behind the team instead of all this negativity. It really is not helping the team. The fans have had their say and rightly so now let’s all pull together.

Andros Townsend
Former Crystal Palace midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

A few years ago when Roy Hodgson left Crystal Palace went with Patrick Vieira, the young up-and-coming manager who wanted to play on the front foot and from the outside it looked like it was working, even if they had a sticky period.

Then they decided to go back to Roy Hodgson, at 75, 76 years of age is not going to come out of retirement and be Pep Guardiola. You know what you are going to get. I don't know what was expected.

Chris Sutton
Former Blackburn striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

I didn't realise Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise had so few starts this season. Players that when Wilf Zaha left were going to step in and be the main guys.

I do have massive sympathy for Roy Hodgson because he has been hampered because his best attacking players have not been available.

Crystal Palace

Of course Mauricio Pochettino is not the only one under scrutiny.

In the home corner Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson is also under pressure with his side slipping down the table to 15th, with just two wins in their last 12 games

The 76-year-old will take charge of his 200th Premier League match as Eagles boss when they host Chelsea this evening.

"[Fans] are the people that we cannot afford to have turned against us, because we need them," Hodgson said.

"It's been the toughest period of my career for one reason, and that is that the fans have turned so much against us.

"If we're going to win the games, and this team is going to do well, they're not going to be able to do it if the fans are going to be constantly up in arms about everything that's happening.

"Apart from that, it joins a lot of other periods of my life where I've been happier and more content, of course."

Chelsea

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has repeated his call for patience as his team look to improve in the Premier League.

The Blues, who have spent over £1bn pounds on players since 2021-22 - more than double anyone else in the English top flight - are currently languishing in 11th in the table.

And angry supporters turned on the Argentine and his players during their 4-2 defeat to Wolves at Stamford Bridge eight days ago.

However, their were positive signs in last Wednesday's 3-1 victory at Aston Villa in their FA Cup fourth-round replay and Pochettino says his team - on average the youngest in the top flight - will require more time than they have yet been given following the arrival of 12 new faces last summer.

"I'm not picking the team because they are young," he said. "I don't want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England.

"We are a young team. We have a good balance. We have Thiago Silva who is 39, we have Raheem Sterling (29), we have (Christopher) Nkunku (26), and (Axel) Disasi (25). The problem is not that they are young. The problem is that the team is young.

"We had (many) players that arrived new at the beginning of the season. You need to build a team."

Image source, Getty Images

Of course most of that dosh spent by Crystal Palace was on Adam Wharton.

The 19-year-old England under-20 international looked like a star in the making at Blackburn but can he be the man to galvanise the Eagles?

A tough gig in the absence of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, who are both still injured.

BBC Radio 5 Live

If you're just joining us and fancy some illuminating footie chat Mark Chapman, Chris Sutton, Andros Townsend and Rory Smith are over on The Monday Night Club on Radio 5 Live now.

Crystal Palace spent the most dough of any Premier League team in the January transfer window.

But do they have enough quality to stay up?

Former Manchester City midfielder Michael Brown and ex-Palace striker Clinton Morrison seem to think so.

They tell The Football News Show why Roy Hodgson's side will be safe come the end of the season.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport at Selhurst Park

Matheus Franca and Adam Wharton make their first Premier League starts for Crystal Palace. Joachim Andersen is named captain, with Marc Guehi out injured and Joel Ward on the bench.

Crystal Palace XI: Henderson, Munoz, Andersen, Richards, Mitchell, Lerma, Hughes, Wharton, Franca, Ayew, Mateta.

Subs: Johnstone, Ward, Tomkins, Clyne, Schlupp, Riedewald, Ozoh, Ahamada, Edouard.

Image source, .

Mauricio Pochettino makes one change from the Chelsea team that beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup, with Thiago Silva coming in for the injured Benoit Badiashile.

Chelsea XI: Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Silva, Chilwell, Fernandez, Caicedo, Gallagher, Palmer, Madueke, Jackson.

Subs: Bergstrom, Chalobah, Gilchrist, Colwill, Casadei, Chukwuemeka, Sterling, Mudryk, Nkunku.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

The Chelsea players are on premises and they look pretty focussed. I wonder what tunes Moises Caicedo's using to get into the groove? Bet it won't be the Rocky training montage.