Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
The hosts come into this match looking to stretch their unbeaten start to the season to 11 matches, with victory seeing them climb at least up to second in the table.
Palace, by contrast, are winless in their last five matches but did pick up a point against Arsenal last weekend.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
These two sides come into this London derby in contrasting form, with Chelsea looking to extend their unbeaten start and Palace looking to end a winless run. This has been a close-run fixture in recent years too, so we are all set for an intriguing contest this afternoon!
Let's start with a look at the team news...
Well, we'll start with the hosts and the headline news from their camp is that Eden Hazard only makes the bench for this afternoon's match, having been struggling with a back injury of late.
Hazard did return to training earlier this week, but Sarri revealed in his pre-match press conference that the Belgian is not yet ready to play for a full 90 minutes. Hazard is still the Premier League's joint-top scorer this season despite missing his side's last three games, but he only has one goal in 10 Premier League appearances against Palace.
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Morata has begun to find his shooting boots for Chelsea now and, with Giroud still sidelined, the Spaniard gets another chance to improve his tally this afternoon. He was on the scoresheet against Burnley, as was Willian, who also played against Derby in midweek.
The midfielder could become only the third Englishman to score in four successive Premier League games for Chelsea, joining Frank Lampard and Mark Stein in that club having been selected ahead of Fabregas, Kovacic and former Palace loanee Loftus-Cheek in complete the trio today.
There are eight changes from the midweek EFL Cup win over Derby, though, with Kante, Morata and Willian the only three players to keep their places from that five-goal thriller.
The difference between Palace's results with and without their star man are remarkable, so it is a huge boost for them to have the Ivorian available following a shoulder injury which ruled him out of the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Middlesbrough.
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However, there is also the possibility that Palace will leave Zaha up front on his own and utilise Townsend in his more familiar wide position in order to give them more protection against Chelsea's attacking full-backs.
Like Chelsea, though, there are eight changes made from their EFL Cup duties in midweek with Wan-Bissaka, Townsend and Meyer the only players to retain their places from the defeat to Boro.
His two penalties against Arsenal means that he has now scored nine in the Premier League since the start of last season, which is alone more than any of the other 22 clubs competing in the top flight during that time have scored.
It doesn't look like top spot will be within their grasp today as Man City are already 3-0 up against Southampton after only 20 minutes, but Chelsea would move second with a win today - above Liverpool on goal difference following their draw with Arsenal yesterday.
For their part, Chelsea are looking to begin a top-flight campaign with an 11-match unbeaten streak for only the third time in their history, and on both previous occasions they have gone on to win the title - in 2005-06 and 2014-15.
Sarri's tally of 10 games is already two better than the likes of Jose Mourinho and Luiz Felipe Scolari managed, and a win or draw today would see him draw level with Frank Clark's record of 11 - set as Nottingham Forest boss in 1994.
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The Blues were not included in many discussions about title contenders before the campaign began, but they have established themselves as genuine challengers over the first 10 games and they appear to be enjoying their football again too.
However, they returned to winning ways in pretty emphatic fashion last time out in the Premier League when they ran out 4-0 winners over Burnley at Turf Moor - even without their star man Eden Hazard.
That win did make it 11 home games without defeat across all competitions, though, which is a run which stretches back to April 1.
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The Blues have drawn their last two Premier League home games too - against Liverpool and Manchester United - and should they fail to win today then it would be the first time since May 2016 that they have gone three Premier League home games without a victory.
An interesting statistic from the other end of the field shows how Chelsea are more reliant on English players too, with four of their last eight Premier League goals being scored by Englishmen - the same number as they provided in their previous 100 Premier League goals.
Indeed, only Huddersfield have scored fewer than the Eagles in the top flight, while last weekend's 2-2 draw with Arsenal was the first time all season that they had scored in front of their own fans.
All four of their wins in all competitions - including both of their two Premier League victories - have come on their travels.
However, even their away form has seemingly deserted them in recent weeks, with three defeats in a row on the road across all competitions. Another today would make it four on the bounce for the first time since a run of nine almost exactly a year ago.
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In addition to knocking them out of the competition in the third round, the result also made it four losses and no wins from their last five outings across all competitions, leaving them in growing need of a positive result.
Palace went on to stun Chelsea with a 2-1 win which provided the first points and goals of both the season and Hodgson's reign, and they could do with a similar lift today - particularly as they are in the midst of a difficult run of fixtures which sees them face four of last season's top six in succession. After Arsenal last week and Chelsea this, Palace take on Spurs and Manchester United in their next two games.
Palace needed a couple of penalties to earn the draw, though, including one late one having initially taken the lead against Unai Emery's in-form side. The result in isolation was a decent one, but it is still only two points from the last 15 on offer in the Premier League now.
Indeed, in addition to being winless in their last five league games, Palace have also only managed one win from their nine since the opening day of the season, and Hodgson will know that a serious improvement is needed if they are to avoid another relegation scrap this term.
It is hard to see past a Chelsea win in this game given the form of both teams heading into the match. Palace traditionally have not made it easy for Chelsea in this fixture, but Sarri's side are flying and should run out fairly comfortable winners on this occasion.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace
None of the last 14 Premier League meetings have finished as a draw, with Chelsea winning 10 to Palace's four in that time, but you can bet that Palace would take a draw today.
The Eagles had only won one of their previous 18 league games at the stadium before the recent improvement, although they were on the losing side in their most recent visit when Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners in March.
Indeed, of the 10 matches since Palace were promoted back into the Premier League, nine of them have been decided by just one goal.
CHELSEA STARTING XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Barkley; Pedro, Morata, Willian
CRYSTAL PALACE STARTING XI: Hennessey; Wan-Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt; Milivojevic, Meyer, McArthur, Kouyate; Townsend, Zaha
Pedro's first cross is cut out by Tomkins, but his clearance only goes as far as the Spaniard again. Pedro then plays it back into the middle for Morata, who takes a touch before firing the ball past Hennessey on the turn. Smart finish from the striker!
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2 - Alvaro Morata has scored in back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time since November 2017. Restored. pic.twitter.com/2rWrZnCBG3
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 4, 2018
Sarri's side were the better team for the vast majority of the opening 45 minutes, dominating possession and creating the better chances.
Palace had the chance to clear the danger before that, but they could only get it as far as Pedro, whose second cross into the box was collected by Morata. The Spanish striker's first touch saw the ball pop up for him and he then fired it instinctively past the keeper.
Palace's resistance is broken and Morata's good form continues! 🔓
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 4, 2018
Pedro finds him at the second attempt and he swivels from close range to apply the finishing touch!
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It looked offside in normal time and certainly would have looked offside to the assistant due to the position of the players, but the replay shows that it was probably level.
The likes of Zaha have had very little to work with so far, with Chelsea doing a brilliant job of swarming around the attacker and quickly winning the ball back.
McArthur is the creator with a lovely pass through for Townsend to race on to, and the Palace man keeps his composure to drill a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner!
Game on!
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It is dreadful defending from Palace as Hazard's free kick is allowed to travel all the way to Morata at the back post. The striker takes it down on his thigh before firing a really good finish into the bottom far corner from a tight angle.
#CPFC are level! 🦅
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 4, 2018
Townsend finishes with a crisp low strike across goal and into the bottom corner!
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Alonso's low cross from the left flank is towards Morata, but he leaves it from Pedro, who is coming on to the ball from deep. The Spaniard applies a confident first-time finish, and Palace now have a long way back in this one!
3 - Eden Hazard is only the third player to assist a goal in three consecutive substitute appearances in the Premier League, after Tomasz Radzinski for Everton in March 2004, and Arjen Robben for Chelsea in April 2005. Magic. pic.twitter.com/XXRsafmD0K
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 4, 2018
Is it game over for #CPFC now?
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 4, 2018
Alonso looks up from the left and puts in a low cross which Pedro meets and plants a low shot beyond Hennessey.
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A brace for Alvaro Moara either side of Andros Townsend's equaliser put Chelsea ahead, and then Pedro took the game beyond the visitors with a third goal 20 minutes from time. It is a result which means that Maurizio Sarri has now remained unbeaten in his first 11 Premier League games as manager - a joint-record for the Premier League.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's match as Chelsea beat Crystal Palace to leapfrog Liverpool into second place in the Premier League table. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!