The Premier League is back, not that it ever really ends. Excitement and anxiety rise in equal measure as the World Champions host the FA Cup and Community Shield winners at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
By Alex Roberts
Palace fans are in dreamland having won two trophies in their previous two competitive games, it’s just a shame things off the pitch have been a little more frustrating, to say the very least.
For Chelsea, a 3-0 win over PSG in the Club World Cup final, and subsequent pre-season wins over Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan have given the Stamford Bridge faithful something they haven’t felt sine Todd Boehly an co. took over…hope.
Chelsea’s first Club World Cup casualty
It remains to be seen what kind of effect Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign will have in the playing squad and it’s impossible to say whether Levi Colwill’s ACL injury had anything to do with it but he’s unlikely to feature much, or at all in 2025-26, ruled out before the season even started.
Colwill’s injury comes at the worst possible time, at 22-years-old, he was starting to look the centre-back Chelsea needed, even scoring the winner against Nottingham Forest to secure the club’s top four finish.
Thankfully for Chelsea, their never-ending thirst for new players means they have plenty of options to replace him, with Enzo Maresca confirming that Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana are both fit to play.
A welcome boost…for now
Few would have predicted that Marc Guéhi and Eberechi Eze would still be Palace players by mid-August, likely including the owners, who have so far splurged just £2 million on a single new signing, Borna Sosa from Ajax. Notably, Palace started the exact same XI in the FA Cup Final and last weekend’s Community Shield win over Liverpool.
The Holmesdale Fanatics won’t be too fussed though, Guéhi and Eze are two of the league’s best players, keeping that at the club, even if it’s just for one more season, would be a huge boost as they seek more silverware.
We will see if they’re still knocking about come September, with Tottenham said to be so close to finalising a move for Eze that the creative mainstay of Palace’s side will not feature in this game, and Liverpool keen on adding Guéhi to their £300 million summer super team.
Cucurella is key
It feels like everything good that Chelsea have done over the past six months, the fluffy haired left-back has been at the centre of it. Maresca has given in a new position, a sort of ‘roaming full-back’ (coined by The Athletic’s JJ Bull).
While doing all the normal things a more traditional full-back would do, defending the flanks, bombing up and down the pitch, he also has the freedom to invert and contribute to attacking build up, often ending up as an extra man in the final third.
If Chelsea want to get their hands on that Premier League title come the end of the season, Cucurella may well be the man that takes them there. For now, Palace have been tasked with a job few have managed, keeping him quiet.
Prediction
Palace under Oliver Glasner have been an entirely different kettle of fish, well organised and compact at the back while the likes of Eze have had the freedom to impact the game further up the field.
Chelsea won’t have it easy, but considering they’ve essentially played all summer, they won’t have the same rust in their joints that Palace might. We think the home side will win this one 2-1.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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