Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Tips & Preview - Blues to begin with home win

By Tolu Shotade

3 hours ago

Tolu Shotade 3 hours ago

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Chelsea host Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in EPL opener.
Chelsea have had a successful summer, winning two major titles.
Joao Pedro has been in fine form in preseason.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace

Chelsea welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge for their opening fixture of the new English Premier League season.

After enjoying a hugely successful summer, the hosts will be looking to put up a title challenge in the league this season. The visitors are usually tricky opponents, but the Blues have the superior quality and should claim the upper hand.

Chelsea News

Chelsea have been flying these last few months as they won the UEFA Conference League and followed that up by claiming the FIFA Club World Cup. As always, it has been a busy transfer window for the Blues, with Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jorrel Hato leading a slew of arrivals at Stamford Bridge.

Joao Pedro has already made an instant impact at Chelsea, scoring three goals at the Club World Cup and was also on target in their friendlies. The striker leads a new look attack, which has seen five of the last eight matches across all competitions produce over 2.5 goals.

Chelsea have become hard to get past lately and are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 matches across all competitions. Enzo Maresca's team picked up a 4-1 victory over AC Milan in their final warm-up ahead of the new season.

Crystal Palace News

Crystal Palace will come into this clash full of confidence after winning the Community Shield last weekend. The FA Cup winners beat Premier League Champions Liverpool on penalties following a 2-2 draw in normal time.

While things appear good for Crystal Palace, there has been a troubling lack of transfer activity this summer. Left-back Borna Sosa is the only major arrival so far, while star players Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze have been linked with exits before the end of the transfer window.

Beyond the Community Shield win, Crystal Palace’s overall form this summer has been patchy, earning three wins and suffering two defeats from six friendly matches. Four of their last five matches produced over 2.5 goals.

Head to Head

Chelsea are often superior in this fixture and have claimed 10 wins and played out two draws in the last 12 matches against Crystal Palace. The two draws on this run came last season as they played out 1-1 scorelines in both meetings.

Verdict

Chelsea v Crystal Palace

Chelsea are full of confidence at the moment and will be keen to start their campaign with a home win. Crystal Palace have the quality to make things difficult, but given the Blues’ record in this fixture, a home win is expected.

Four of Crystal Palace's last five matches have produced over 2.5 goals, which is likely to be the outcome here. Joao Pedro has already settled quickly into life at Chelsea and having scored five goals so far, could be backed to find the net once again.

Chelsea

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