Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Predictions

• Chelsea failed to beat Palace at home and away last season
• Palace lost only two of their last 15 away matches in 2024-25
• Joao Pedro has scored five goals in his first five Chelsea appearances

Trophy-winning teams tussle on opening weekend

Club World Cup winners Chelsea will get their Premier League challenge up and running against Wembley wonders Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Both clubs have had excellent summers, although their preparations for the new campaign have been vastly different.

The Blues have had two tune-up games in west London after playing seven games in the sweltering States this summer. Enzo Maresca’s side clearly enjoyed themselves at the tournament and any lingering fatigue factor is unlikely to catch up to them for a while yet.

Chelsea can also now unleash Brazilian star Estevao and recent recruit Jorrel Hato on the Premier League. Maresca’s line-up against Palace could feature four or five new faces, although the likelihood is that he will stick largely to the side that finished last season strongly.

Eagles’ elite mentality will test Chelsea’s home record

Chelsea won eight of their last nine home Premier League games last term and will not lack betting support at short odds even if Palace denied them victories at Selhurst Park and Stamford Bridge last season.

Oliver Glasner’s side were one of the best away teams in the division last term, with only Liverpool and Arsenal losing fewer matches on the road. And they come into this with the confidence of a second trophy win of the summer after last weekend’s Community Shield success over Liverpool.

The Eagles’ penalty shoot-out victory spoke volumes about the elite mentality Glasner’s squad possesses. They could have folded after Liverpool’s glorious start and a first-half injury to Daichi Kamada could have disrupted them further.

Pedro and Mateta could both make their mark 

However, more worrying for Palace now will be the injury to Marc Guehi which comes at a time when they were considering a big-money sale of their England international. He seems unlikely to play in this class and may already have worn a Palace shirt for the final time.

Chelsea will also be without the services of one of their best central defenders, Levi Colwill, but their squad is much deeper in all positions. There should be a superb striker duel between new Chelsea star Joao Pedro, who has scored five goals in his first five games for the club, and Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Mateta was a handful for Liverpool’s defence at Wembley and has scored in four of five pre-season games, although the ex-Brighton striker gets our anytime goalscorer vote because his supply line is likely to be more fruitful. Chelsea could well continue their excellent home form and win this game, but there is greater value in backing Palace to avoid defeat in what should be another closely-contested affair between the London clubs.