Chelsea host London rivals Crystal Palace in the Premier League this afternoon.
The Blues are up and running in the top flight under Enzo Maresca after the 6-2 thrashing of Wolves at Molineux last weekend, in which hat-trick hero Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer both thrived.
Despite so much criticism about their transfer dealings off the pitch, few would doubt that Maresca boats a hugely talented squad on it, though they made qualifying for the Conference League more difficult than it needed to be after falling to a shock 2-1 loss away to Swiss side Servette on Thursday having won the opening game of the play-off tie 2-0 on home soil.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CHELSEA VS CRYSTAL PALACE LIVE!
Palace, meanwhile, have lost their opening two league games against London opponents Brentford and West Ham to pump the breaks a little on some of the overwhelming positivity built up during the early stages of Oliver Glasner’s reign, but thrashed Norwich 4-0 in the Carabao Cup in midweek to get their first win of the season in fine style with Jean-Philippe Mateta on form again and new signing Daichi Kamada getting his first goal for the club.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace is scheduled for a 1.30pm BST kick-off time today, Sunday September 1, 2024.
Stamford Bridge in west London will host the match.
Where to watch Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
TV channel and live stream: The game is not able to be broadcast live on TV in the UK, having originally been scheduled for 3pm on Saturday only to be moved back as a result of Chelsea’s Conference League play-off tie against Servette.
LIVE coverage: Follow all the action live with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog, with expert analysis from Malik Ouzia at the Bridge.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace team news
Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo; Madueke, Palmer, Neto, Jackson
Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin, Disasi, Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall, Casadei, Mudryk, Felix, Nkunku
Crystal Palace XI: Henderson; Munoz, Richards, Clyne, Guehi, Mitchell; Wharton, Hughes; Kamada, Eze, Mateta
Subs: Matthews, Ward, Sarr, Schlupp, Doucoure, Rodney, Umeh, Devenny, Agbinone
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace prediction
Palace have been somewhat unlucky in their first two games but the Blues look to be clicking into gear.
Chelsea to win, 3-1.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Chelsea wins: 38
Draws: 15
Crystal Palace wins: 12
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace latest odds
Chelsea to win: 6/10
Draw: 10/3
Crystal Palace to win: 4/1