ROY HODGSON and Mauricio Pochettino have been battling it out at the top for a while now, but it looks like the veteran former England manager may win the race.
Of course it's not the Premier League prize at stake, it's the sack race market because the bosses of Crystal Palace and Chelsea are both under serious pressure.
And the loser of Monday's clash may yet collect his P45 (Hodgson is currently 2/5 favourite with Pochettino next at 3/1!)
The two London clubs have underperformed to varying degrees this season, with the main criticism being on Chelsea who sit in a pitiful 11th place in the league going into the weekend fixtures.
That's what spending just shy of £400 million this season gets you apparently.
However, the Argentinian did at least buy himself some time with an unexpected FA Cup win at Aston Villa after two games where they conceded four goals to Liverpool and Wolves.
He may yet be saved anyway because sacking him would breach Financial Fair Play rules.
For Hodgson, it's surely a matter of not if, but when, after a 4-1 thumping at Brighton left them just five points above the drop zone.
The Eagles have won just twice in their last 14 games and Steve Cooper appears to be waiting in the wings for the axe to fall.
How the bookies view it
Chelsea are odds-on across the board but only just with 10/11 on offer from 888sport.
Crystal Palace can be backed at 10/3 with UniBet and the draw is 14/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
Chelsea edged a 2-1 win over Palace at Stamford Bridge earlier this season.
But this fixture has been a nightmare for Palace – Chelsea have won the last 13 meetings.
Players to watch
Jean-Philippe Mateta netted Crystal Palace's consolation in their last game and it was the French striker's first goal in eight games. He is 15/4 to score anytime with bet365.
Nicolas Jackson scored his ninth goal for Chelsea and his first since November in that midweek FA Cup win at Birmingham. He is 2/1 to score anytime with UniBet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Chelsea could hardly be playing more favourable opponents here and can build on arguably their best performance of the season in midweek by winning on Monday.
There has been plenty of false dawns for them this season, but they should surely be too strong for Palace, whose fans are unlikely to have much patience if it starts to go wrong.
Goals usually flow at both ends when Chelsea are involved. Their last five games has seen 21 goals and that inludes an unusual goalless draw in that run.
And Palace's last two games have both seen five goals in them.
So it's a surprise you can get almost evens – 5/6 with 888sport – for over 2.5 goals.
This English Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Chelsea will be played on Feb 12, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Crystal Palace vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
