Chelsea kick off their 2025/26 Premier League campaign with a home game against London rivals Crystal Palace on Sunday, August 17.
The Blues enter the new season on the back of a strong previous campaign, during which they qualified for the Champions League and clinched the UEFA Conference League, before impressively beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final to claim the FIFA Club World Cup.
Many believe that Enzo Maresca’s team are now set to go one step further and challenge for the Premier League title. This belief has been strengthened by the plethora of attacking talent that the Blues have added to their ranks during the ongoing summer transfer window.
Chelsea have added some serious depth to their squad with the signings of Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, Estevao, Jamie Gittens, Jorrel Hato, Joao Pedro and Kendry Paez, along with further recruitment of young talent.
Meanwhile, the only serious injury concern for Chelsea is the ACL injury to Levi Colwill, which rules him out for the majority of the season.
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On the other hand, Crystal Palace come into the new Premier League season on the back of a famous FA Cup triumph in May — something they followed up by beating Liverpool on penalties to clinch the Community Shield last weekend — and they will be eager to give a good account of themselves when they visit Stamford Bridge.
Palace have moved to bolster their squad ahead of the new season, having acquired Borna Sosa from Ajax to boost their defence and goalkeeper Walter Benitez on a free transfer from PSV. Oliver Glasner’s team also has a number of players returning from loan spells at different teams, while he needs to manage the situations over the in-demand Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze carefully.
Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace lineups: Starting XI, team news, injury latest
As Maresca kicks off his second season in charge of Chelsea, he has the luxury of choosing from a strong squad of players. However, he expressed particular concern over how to replace the injured Levi Colwill in a news conference on Friday, which may not have gone down well with the likes of Benoit Badiashile and Wesley Fofana, who are battling to be fit and to take Colwill’s place.
For Sunday’s game, youngster Josh Acheampong partners Trevoh Chalobah in the back four. Joao Pedro gets the nod ahead of Liam Delap, with Nicolas Jackson suspended.
Jorrel Hato and Estevao could also make their Premier League bows for their new club, having been named on the bench.
Chelsea starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Sanchez (GK) — James, Acheampong, Chalobah, Cucurella — Caicedo, Fernandez — Neto, Palmer, Gittens — Joao Pedro
Chelsea subs: Delap, Jorgensen, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Hato, Guto, Fofana, George, Estevao
Injured: Colwill (ACL), Badiashile (knock), Lavia (muscular)
Suspended: Jackson, Mudryk (doping violation)
Oliver Glasner names the same team he did for Wembley, except Will Hughes comes in for Daichi Kamada, who suffered a knee injury last weekend.
More importantly, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze have both been linked with moves away from Palace during this transfer window, but both start the game against Chelsea.
Eze and Ismaila Sarr are two of Palace’s most creative players, so expect the duo to be at the heart of all the good things the Eagles do going forward.
Crystal Palace starting XI (3-4-2-1, right to left): Henderson (GK) — Richards, Lacroix, Guehi — Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell — Sarr, Eze — Mateta
Crystal Palace subs: Lerma, Clyne, Esse, Edouard, Sosa, Benitez, Rak-Sakyi, DeVenny, Cardines
Injured: Kporha (back), Riad (knee), Kamada (knee), Doucoure (knee), Matheus Franca (muscular), Nketiah (hamstring)
Suspended: None
Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace match details
- Date: Sunday, August 17, 2025
- Kickoff time: 2 p.m. local time / 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT
- Location: Stamford Bridge, London (England)
- Competition: Premier League
- Referee: Darren England
- VAR: James Bell
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