Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Prediction: Blues to edge out Eagles in close contest

Chelsea welcome London rivals Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge on Sunday (14:00 BST, Sky Sports Main Event) as the first round of the Premier League gets underway. This opening weekend of the league features a clash between two teams laden with silverware of late: the Uefa Conference League and Fifa Club World Cup champions taking on the FA Cup and Community Shield winners.

Last season, these two cancelled each other out with a pair of 1-1 draws in the league, although, over recent times, Chelsea have the upper hand with 14 wins from the last 16 meetings in all competitions. Below are my Chelsea vs Crystal Palace predictions, accompanied by team news and match odds.

Team News

As ever with Chelsea, a host of new signings have arrived this summer, and how they slot into Enzo Maresca’s plans is an intriguing subplot in the early weeks of the season. Joao Pedro is expected to start, while Liam Delap may have to settle for a place on the bench.

Injuries to Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah are a concern ahead of the new campaign. Colwill is set to miss much of the season, but Chalobah is in line to face his former club after making a timely recovery.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, are without Eddie Nketiah for the opening weeks due to injury, adding to the absences of long-term casualties Chadi Riad and Cheick Doucoure.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace Odds

Chelsea are 8/13 to win this game on home soil, with Crystal Palace on offer at 9/2, or an 18.2% chance, for the victory, and the draw available at 16/5. Over 2.5 goals is priced at 8/13, while both teams to score is also expected at 4/6.

Chelsea to win @ 8/13

Chelsea produced a superb performance to overcome Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, and that display could serve as the template for how Maresca wants his side to play this season.

The Blues appear to have recruited well in the summer transfer window and used the tournament to integrate several new signings into the starting XI.

Maresca’s men head into the season as fourth favourites for the title, and their home form will be crucial to their title challenge.

Getting the new campaign off to a good start will also be key, and they are expected to take all three points against Palace this weekend.

Over 2.5 goals and both teams to score @ 1/1

Palace have found the net in each of their last four meetings with Chelsea and, with Jean-Philippe Mateta, Ismaila Sarr and Eberechi Eze in attack, they will pose a threat to any defence.

That trio contributed 46 goal involvements in the Premier League last season and, while Chelsea are strong favourites for this match, Palace look more than capable of getting on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s attacking riches are even more impressive with Cole Palmer, Jamie Gittens, Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro set to get the nod from the off, leaving Delap, Estevao, Raheem Sterling, and Christopher Nkunku among others in reserve.

With such firepower, goals are unlikely to be short at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

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We will be Top Price on Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace with selected bookmakers using Oddschecker for the comparison. (Available from 09:30 Sunday)

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