The Premier League season kicks off for two of the country’s recent trophy winners, as Club World Cup champions Chelsea take on FA Cup winners Crystal Palace this Sunday.
Chelsea are coming off the high of winning the newly expanded competition, sweeping aside European Champions PSG 3-0 in July and just over a month later they’re back at home kicking off their Premier League season.
Will the Blues be ice cold like Cole or will they be a bit rough around the edges after a shortened summer break? Only time will tell, but Todd Boehly has once again thrown more cash at the team to freshen up the squad and try to bridge the gap to Liverpool.
Liam Delap, who impressed last season for relegated Ipswich, and Joao Pedro joined the squad in America for their summer escapades, while they’ve also added the likes of Jorrel Hato, Estevao and Jamie Gittens.
Chelsea will be eager to build on the success of last season, but so will Crystal Palace, who also triumphed against Liverpool in the Community Shield last weekend.
There’s been a lot of off-field issues for Oliver Glasner’s men over the summer, with their demotion from the Europa League sparking controversy, while there’s also been speculation over the future of their star players.
Marc Guehi has been heavily linked with a move away to champions Liverpool, while Arsenal and Tottenham have an interest in Eberechi Eze, but they are still Palace players for now.
Glasner will be aiming to start this season much better than last, as they picked up just three points from their opening seven games, but they steadied the ship after Christmas and finished in what appears to be their customary mid-table spot.
It’s sure to be an interesting match-up, as Glasner looks to revive their Community Shield spirit and shock mooted title contenders Chelsea.
Don’t forget, you can get more stats and follow the game minute-by-minute with our new live scores centre.
Chelsea team news
Levi Colwill is out for the foreseeable with an ACL injury, while Mykhailo Mudryk is unavailable after being charged by the FA with a doping offence.
Benoit Badiashile and Romeo Lavia are ruled out, while Wesley Fofana is a doubt and wantaway striker Nicolas Jackson is suspended.
Joao Pedro is expected to make his Premier League debut for the club, while new signings Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato are all fit and available.
Chelsea predicted line-up
Crystal Palace team news
There are several absentees for Glasner’s team this weekend, with Chadi Riad ruled out with a knee injury and Cheick Doucoure also unavailable with a knee injury.
Eddie Nketiah, Matheus Franca and Daichi Kamada are all unavailable for this one.
Despite transfer speculation, Guehi and Eze are expected to line up for the Eagles.
Crystal Palace expected line-up
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace: How to watch and listen
The game will be live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting at 1pm. While radio commentary will be live on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace stats
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 16 games against Palace (14 w, 2 D).
However, both games between the pair ended in a 1-1 draw last season.
Chelsea have won 20 of their 33 Premier League season openers, only Manchester United have won more games on the first weekend.
Palace have won just three of their 15 Premier League openers, losing 2-1 to Brentford last season.
Enzo Maresca (Chelsea) quotes
On losing Levi Colwill to injury:
“When we build, we build with Levi in the middle. Last year, we played 64 games and we played 64 games with Levi and Tosin [Adarabioyo]. Now Levi is out, the only one who can do that job well is Tosin.
“We have the Premier League and Champions League. These kind of players, the rest can adapt. We have [Jorrel] Hato but he never played as the guy in the middle last season. It is not about central defenders. Yes he is a central defender, but what does he have to do? Can he do that? It is different.
“We also have Benoit [Badishille] and Wes [Fofana] who have problems, and this is why the club know exactly what I think about central defenders.”
Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace) quotes
On Eze and Guehi transfer interest:
“Marc and Ebs trained the whole week and they are prepared for the game. If you ask me now, I expect both to start for us on Sunday.”
On Europa League decision:
“We are all disappointed. By Monday evening, the disappointment was gone, as it made no sense to take it into the week after winning the Community Shield. We still get to play European football for the first time in the club’s history. It’s a big goal to make it into the League Phase.”
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace referee stats
Darren England is the man in the middle in West London on Sunday.
Last season, England refereed 20 Premier League matches, issuing 82 yellow cards and four red cards.
He also awarded four penalties last season.
He refereed three Palace games last season, the 1-1 draws against Liverpool and Newcastle and the 5-0 away defeat to the latter.
He was in charge for one Chelsea game last season, the 2-6 win at Wolves.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace predictions
We expect Chelsea to pick up from where they left off and pick up an opening-day win.
The Blues are often inconsistent, but they have bought well in the summer, demonstrated by Pedro’s excellent start in the Club World Cup.
Speaking of Pedro, we think he’ll grab a goal on the opening day, with the creativity of Cole Palmer likely to provide the Brazilian with a plethora of chances.
One thing about Palace is that they’re a tough nut to crack – they rarely get well beaten – so we think it could be a tight one and a one-goal winning margin could be a viable betting option, especially given that Chelsea showed a gritty side to their game to get over the line in the Champions League race last season.
