World champions Chelsea kick-off their 2025–26 Premier League season at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, as they take on Crystal Palace.
The Blues enter the new campaign in high spirits with their exploits in the United States earlier this summer highlighting their impressive evolution under Enzo Maresca. Club World Cup winners for a second time, Chelsea are now aiming to compete for the league title after squeezing into fourth spot on the final day of 2024–25.
Their travails across the Atlantic means they’ve had a reduced preseason, with Maresca’s side overcoming Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan in two friendlies to prepare them for the start of 2025–26.
Crystal Palace’s campaign got off to the perfect start at Wembley, as they twice came from behind against Liverpool and won the Community Shield on penalties. Unlike Chelsea, the Eagles have been distinctly quiet in the transfer market after claiming their first piece of major silverware, but their squad could look considerably different by the time the window slams shut.
Much will depend on who ends up leaving the club.
Here is Sports Illustrated’s guide to Sunday’s Premier League encounter.
Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (All Competitions)
|
Chelsea |
Crystal Palace |
|---|---|
|
Chelsea 4–1 AC Milan – 10/08/25 |
Crystal Palace 2–2 (3–2p) Liverpool – 10/08/25 |
|
Chelsea 2–0 Bayer Leverkusen – 08/08/25 |
Augsburg 1–0 Crystal Palace – 01/08/25 |
|
Chelsea 3–0 PSG – 13/07/25 |
Augsburg 1–3 Crystal Palace – 01/08/25 |
|
Fluminense 0–2 Chelsea – 08/07/25 |
Crawley Town 0–3 Crystal Palace – 25/07/25 |
|
Palmeiras 1–2 Chelsea – 05/07/25 |
Crystal Palace 1–0 Millwall – 12/07/25 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Ultra HD |
|
United States |
fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, Telemundo |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada, fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 2 Canada |
|
Mexico |
Max Mexico, TNT Go, TNT Sports |
Nicolas Jackson is firmly out of favour in west London, and the striker is suspended for Chelsea’s opening game of the season after receiving his marching orders in a 2–0 defeat to Newcastle United in May.
João Pedro is one of many additions made by the club this summer, and the Brazilian has enjoyed a superb start to his Chelsea career. He’ll lead the line on Sunday, and there should also be debuts for Jorrel Hato and Jamie Gittens.
Maresca has confirmed that Trevoh Chalobah is available for Palace’s visit, but the Italian will be without Benoît Badiashile, Roméo Lavia and Levi Colwill. Wesley Fofana has a chance of featuring.
Chelsea predicted lineup vs. Palace (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; James, Chalobah, Hato, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernández; Neto, Palmer, Gittens; Pedro
Two Crystal Palace stars, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, are subject of transfer interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, respectively.
Glasner refused to divulge into the future of his captain in Friday’s pre-match press conference, and both players will be in his starting XI unless there are more developments before Sunday.
The Palace boss confirmed that Daichi Kamada, who picked up an injury in the Community Shield, will miss the trip to west London, while Eddie Nketiah, Matheus França, Cheick Doucouré and Chadi Riad are also out injured.
Palace predicted lineup vs. Chelsea (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Muñoz, Hughes, Wharton, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Mateta
Chelsea may be full of confidence, but Palace further proved just how tough of an opponent they can be in the Community Shield. They’ve relished these fixtures under Glasner, and they’ll be keen to seize upon some Blues complacency here.
We can’t expect Guehi and Eze to be at full tilt, given the speculation surrounding their futures, but Palace have enough to cause Chelsea problems from Glanser’s balanced framework alone. Ismaïla Sarr was their star at Wembley, while Adam Wharton is a difference-maker in midfield.
The Blues are going to have to work hard for three points on Sunday, but we’ll back them to edge a mightily competitive encounter.