As Palace head ever closer to that semi FA Cup clash with Chelsea the omens are good. Benzema took the Chelsea defence to the cleaners. Chelsea have now conceded 7 goals in the last 2 games and are on the ropes. An attacking Palace side can take them. Never been so excited about our chances!

"Chelsea look to have run out of momentum at a very key time" - Phil McNulty on BBC.

I dread thinking it, let alone typing or saying it, however the Chelsea team do not look like that of yesteryear, oligarchs or no oligarchs.

I can easily recall seeing their line up of superstars and wondering how we might ever get anything against them, there were a plethora of fantasies to indulge in but not too many that bore resemblance to reality.

I no longer look at their team and tremble like once before, the spirit of the club has been damaged by RA's departure. Their team is nowhere near as frightening as it once was, they are not competing for the title and almost certainly out of CL, the players look a bit lost and their results are nosediving. They looked very average against Real yesterday.

Again, dread to say it and almost want to chasten myself for daring to do so, but by gum, I think we have a very good chance here in the FA Cup!

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Although I’m more confident than I would’ve been a few weeks/months ago, I’m not getting too excited, Chelsea have still got enough class, experience and Tuchel has enough tactical nouse to put us away comfortably, but at least it does feel like it’s game on now and we don’t have to just go along for a good day out

Chelsea have always valued the domestic cups so we’ll see.

COYP

We're still 14-1 to win it outright. Wonder how that compares with 1990

Then you don't have to worry because they've already won a trophy so it's not going to be their only chance. They won the World Club Cup, remember?

Look, Chelsea is better than us. The table, apart from anything else, doesn't lie. But, in a single game, you always have a chance of winning and right now, our chances could not be better. We're in our best form of the season. They're in their worst form of the season. Our confidence is soaring. They're probably questioning themselves. We have a week to prepare for the semi. They've got to travel to Madrid and face a critical game there before they can even think about the Cup.

They will still be favourites and rightly so but their heavy defeats by Brentford and Madrid and our thrashing of Arsenal have changed the landscape and slightly tilted things back in our direction. Put it this way: when the draw was made, Tuchel probably thought "we've got the easy road to the final". I doubt he thinks that now. No one in Chelsea land that I've spoken to in the last week is under the impression that they already have one foot in the final anymore.

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.