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.
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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
