Chelsea – Crystal Palace

The London derby in the FA Cup semi-finals will not end with the home team having a clear advantage

The second leg of the FA Cup semi-final is a London derby, albeit not the most crucial one. Chelsea are still the bookmakers' favourites after a hard fixture in Madrid in midweek, but Crystal Palace are not out of the woods either. The visitors to the upcoming encounter have made quite a convincing journey to such a high stage to lose to even the most formidable opponent unwillingly. Thomas Tuchel's side had a truly epic battle in their Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday. They led 3-0 midway through the second half but the genius efforts of Modric and Benzema meant they couldn't hold on to their title advantage. Surely, the emotional outburst in Madrid and 120 minutes of playing time cannot have a positive impact on the Blues' attitude to the upcoming match, nor on their physical condition. Chelsea have beaten Championship clubs Middlesbrough and Stoke City in past FA Cup stages. In the Championship, Tuchel's team are in third place and are unlikely to lose that position. Crystal Palace have had the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming clash in an orderly fashion. In the English championship, the Stockholm side are in the middle of the table, with no risk of relegation and no chance of competing for European places. The preparation for the upcoming game against Chelsea was evident from Crystal Palace's game against Leicester a week ago. "The Glasgow side lost the game deservedly (1-2), but the defeat was their first in their last eight encounters. Before the trip to the Foxes, the club had not conceded a goal in four successive games, scoring Arsenal, Everton and Wolverhampton by a combined total of nine goals and snatching points from Manchester City (0-0). The excellent playing form of the visitors in the semi-final indicates that there are certainly opportunities to reach the final. Even despite Crystal Palace's long losing streak against Chelsea. The last time the Glassers picked up points in this derby was five years ago, when they defeated the Blues in both of their 2017 fixtures. The visitors are likely to be much more collected and perform decently.