Chelsea welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge on Saturday as both sides kick start their Premier League campaign.
Chelsea secured the Super Cup on Wednesday evening, edging past Villarreal on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Belfast.
They have been relatively quiet in the transfer window; however secured the services of Romelu Lukaku late on Thursday evening.
Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira is the new manager of Palace, replacing Roy Hodgson in the off season.
Palace have spent well in the transfer window, with the likes of Joachim Anderson, Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher and Michael Olise all joining the club.
Match history
Chelsea thrashed Palace twice last term, hitting four past their London rivals in both victories.
The Blues have an excellent recent record against Palace, winning the last seven meetings.
Last five Premier League meetings
Crystal Palace 1 Chelsea 4 – 10/04/21
Chelsea 4 Crystal Palace 0 – 03/10/20
Crystal Palace 2 Chelsea 3 – 07/07/20
Chelsea 2 Crystal Palace 0 – 09/11/19
Crystal Palace 0 Chelsea 1 – 30/12/18
Team news
Lukaku won’t be available for the Blues here, with his debut expected to be against Arsenal next week.
Hakim Ziyech scored for Chelsea in midweek; however was forced off with a shoulder injury and will likely miss out here.
Gallagher is ineligible to face his parent club, whilst other new signings Olise and Anderson are injured.
Nathan Ferguson and Eberechi Eze are long term absentees.
Expected starting XI’s
Chelsea (3-4-3): Mendy; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Rudiger; Hudson-Odoi, Kovacic, Kante, Alonso; Havertz, Mount, Werner
Crystal Palace (4-3-3): Guaita; Ward, Kouyate, Guehi, Mitchell; McArthur, Riedewald, Schlupp; Ayew, Mateta, Zaha
Predictions
Result: Chelsea
Chelsea have won their last seven league meetings against Palace and are big favourites to make it eight
Correct Score: 2-0
Chelsea have kept three clean sheets in their last five matches against Palace
Anytime Goalscorer: Kai Havertz
Havertz enjoyed an excellent end to the previous campaign and opened the scoring between the two in the last fixture
