November 2 2018

Wayne Hennessey

Three key clashes to watch out for as Crystal Palace battle Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, writes Hunter Young.

Palace played well against a red-hot Arsenal team last week and earned a well-fought draw at home, but face a beast of a whole new nature in unbeaten Chelsea.

The Blues have not tasted defeat this season and sit only two points off the top of the table. Palace could look to last season for inspiration in this match as the Eagles got their first points and goals of the season when they travelled to West London.

Wayne Hennessey v Kepa

The expectations were high for Kepa flowing his massive £71million transfer from Athletic Bilbao this summer, setting a new record for a keeper. The Spaniard has helped the Blues keep clean sheets in half of their matches and has also impressed in his distribution from the back, a key trait under Sarri.

Wayne Hennessey has also had a good season to this point and has managed to keep summer signing Vicente Guaita glued to the bench. The Welshman recently became a new record holder at Palace with his 39th international cap while with the Eagles, surpassing Mile Jedinak’s record. The Welshman came millimetres from stopping Arsenal’s second goal last week and could have that on his mind as he looks to out perform the world’s most expensive goalie.

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Aaron Wan-Bissaka v Eden Hazard

Roughly a quarter of the way through the season, the current front runner for player of the year is Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. The Belgian playmaker is a terror on the dribble and has a sharp finishing touch as evidenced by his seven goals. Despite missing the last game against Burnley with a back-injury, Hazard will probably play against Palace and will look to start right where he left off.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka has proven that last season was not a flash in the pan but merely the start of the rise of one of England’s brightest young stars. While the young defender has played well this season to date he faces a challenge of a new calibre with Hazard. If Wan-Bissaka can neutralise the threat of Hazard it could put Palace in position to get something from this game.

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Luka Milivojevic v Jorginho

Chelsea have fully embraced 'Sarriball' as some call the possession-based style of football implemented by new coach Maurizio Sarri. Instrumental in this revolution is central midfielder Jorginho, who followed the coach from Napoli this summer. The Italian currently leads not only his team but the entire Premier League in passes with 1,029. For comparison’s sake, Luka Milivojevic leads Palace with 572.

Milivojevic needed last weekend’s result. The pure relief and joy was clearly etched after he buried his penalties after a poor kick from the spot against Everton the week before. It would be little surprise to see a newly energised and confident Milivojevic with a good performance under his belt and demons of past shortcomings vanquished.

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Email Hunter with your feedback to hjyoung44@outlook.com