Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace and Wolves to save Poch? Predict Premier League festive results

It's not been the best start to the season for Chelsea, who sit 12th in the Premier League table after 16 games.

The Blues ended last season in the same position but there were hopes of an improvement this time around following the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as manager and around £400million spent on new players.

Resurrection to the top half of the Premier League has been tricky for Chelsea however, with defeats to West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Brentford, Newcastle, Manchester United and, most recently, Everton leaving the club in a worse position than they were at this point last season under Graham Potter.

They now have four league matches (and an EFL Cup quarter-final tie) to play before the year is out, with the club currently limping into 2024 and at risk of dropping further down the table if they don't start to pick up points on a more consistent basis.

This Saturday sees the visit of basement side Sheffield United to Stamford Bridge where three points will be demanded by Chelsea supporters. A testing visit to St James' Park in the last eight of the League Cup follows on Tuesday, December 19.

There are then three league games all against bottom-half opposition, with a trip to Molineux to face 13th-placed Wolves coming up on Christmas Eve. Frank Lampard oversaw a 1-0 defeat in the same fixture last season and this time around there'll be even more pressure on the Blues to get a result.

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Roy Hodgson's 17th-placed Crystal Palace then head to west London on December 27 before Chelsea finish 2023 with a trip to Kenilworth Road to take