Chelsea will kick off next season in the Premier League by hosting FA Cup holders Crystal Palace.
Even though the Blues are currently focused on competing in the Club World Cup tournament, the Premier League announced its full fixtures for the 2025/26 season on Wednesday morning.
Enzo Maresca’s side will begin the league campaign by playing local rivals Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea kickstarted the 2024/25 league season by losing 2-0 at home to Manchester City, so now they’ve got a better chance to get off to a positive start.
Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League last season, securing Champions League qualification on the final day. The expectation on the talented young squad should only increase going into next year, though.
The Premier League logo at the Chelsea U18 v Manchester United U18: U18 Premier League Final
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Chelsea thrashed Crystal Palace the last time they met on the opening day
Back in the 2021/22 season, Chelsea hosted Palace during the opening round of Premier League fixtures.
The Blues, who were managed by Thomas Tuchel, recorded an emphatic 3-0 home win.
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FULL-TIME Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace
A dominant performance from Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with goals from Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and a stunning Trevoh Chalobah debut strike #CHECRY pic.twitter.com/Qy7Wnab9xX
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 14, 2021
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Marcos Alonso and Christian Pulisic were both on the scoresheet before Trevoh Chalobah scored a stunning goal from distance on his debut. Afterwards, Tuchel raved about Chalobah because of the defender’s impact on his Chelsea debut.
Chelsea were labelled title contenders at the start of the 2021/22 campaign, winning eight of their opening 10 league matches. Unfortunately, the team lost their momentum and finished third in the Premier League.
All the preparation for the league will now gear towards the opening day against Palace, and it will be interesting to see if the two clubs lock horns before then in the summer transfer window.
Palace are resigned to losing central defender Marc Guehi amid speculation linking him with a move to Chelsea.
Christian Pulisic scoring for Chelsea against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Head-to-head record of Chelsea and Crystal Palace
It may be a good omen for Chelsea that their record against London rivals Palace is very strong, particularly in recent times.
Here is a look at the historical head-to-head record between the two clubs.
Chelsea wins Draws Crystal Palace wins
38 17 12
Statistics via 11v11
Chelsea and Palace played out two 1-1 draws in last season’s Premier League meetings. However, the Blues were on a 14-game winning streak across all competitions against Palace before that, dating back to 2017.
Oliver Glasner’s Palace side are stacked with quality and should be looking up the league table, but these are the types of home games Chelsea should be winning if they want to make next season a successful one.