Pardew confident ahead of derby

Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew believes he can secure a win against Chelsea for a second time this season and delay their Premier League coronation.

The Blues will be confirmed as champions for the first time in five years if they beat Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

However, Pardew was in charge of Newcastle in December when they ended Chelsea’s 14-match unbeaten start to the campaign with a 2-1 victory at St James’ Park.

And he believes that experience, plus the pace of Palace’s counter-attacks, can help earn the Eagles a first win at the Bridge since March 1982.

He said: “If there is a team that I know well, it’d be Chelsea. I’ve studied them, I know how they play.

“They will dominate possession around the two-thirds of the pitch that we have to defend, but we carry a threat with the players we have, that’s why our away record is so good.

“[At Newcastle] we had a good gameplan and deserved to win on the day. I know they didn’t like us wasting time but if they were 2-1 up I’d expect them to do the same.

“We need to respond following our recent defeats, both for ourselves and to keep the Premier League title race alive, if we can.”

However, Pardew believes even a Palace victory would only be delaying the inevitable, with Chelsea needing only three more points from their final four games to clinch the title.

He added: “Chelsea have lost two games all season, one to Spurs and one to Newcastle. That’s an outstanding record.

“There may not have been many champagne performances of late but they’re concentrating on getting the job done.

“But we don’t want them to win it on Sunday because for us it’s an important game. We’ve played well against the top sides and we want to continue that.

“We’ve got to try and produce a performance that doesn’t get carried away with the emotion of the day.”

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