Oliver Glasner explains why Chelsea lost their last two games and says Crystal Palace will look to capitalise on ‘mistakes’

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Crystal Palace and Chelsea will lock horns on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League.

Chelsea desperately needs three points this weekend as they try to rebuild some momentum after a dip over the festive period.

Enzo Maresca’s side has dropped down to fourth in the league table because of recent results, including back-to-back losses against Ipswich and Fulham in their last two games.

In contrast, Palace manager Oliver Glasner has seen his team climb up to 15th in the division table recently as they pull away from a relegation battle.

Chelsea are missing four injured players to face Palace, but despite that, they’ll still travel to Selhurst Park with an extremely strong group. The strength and depth of the Blues squad this season is one of the their greatest weapons.

• READ MORE: Chelsea fans urge Enzo Maresca to give teenager his first ever Premier League start vs Crystal Palace

Oliver Glasner comments on Chelsea defeats

Palace boss Glasner has made some interesting comments about Chelsea this week ahead of Saturday’s game.

He’s explained that the Blues are vulnerable defensively in transition, which has led to them losing against both Ipswich and Fulham recently.

When discussing upcoming opponents Chelsea, Glasner said via Palace’s official website: “When you have six players, sometimes seven players in attack, this gives you also chances for transition and this is how they lost the game at Ipswich, with two transitions.

“They conceded the goals against Fulham with transitions, but on the other side they’re always dangerous to score goals, they always create chances in any single game, so this will be the challenge: to control their attacking players, their quality and, on the other side, to use the space, to take the mistakes they make and score goals from it.”

Micah Richards has flagged Chelsea’s defence by claiming that they’ve been conceding too many “sloppy” goals recently. In fairness, they do need to tighten up at the back because they’re becoming a bit too easy for teams to play against.

Chelsea are really missing Wesley Fofana

A big reason why opposition sides are finding it a lot easier to counter on Chelsea is the absence of Wesley Fofana.

Blues centre-back Fofana, 24, could miss the rest of the season with his latest hamstring injury. It’s definitely been noticeable in recent weeks that he’s missing from the XI.

While Tosin Adarabioyo has done a steady job in defence, Chelsea really lack the pace and aggression of Fofana in the heart of their backline. The Frenchman’s presence gives them extra confidence to press higher because his recovery pace is superb.

Palace manager Glasner has publicly admitted they’ll try to catch Chelsea on the break this weekend, so let’s see if Maresca makes any tactical tweaks to help out.