Chelsea and Crystal Palace begin their respective Premier League seasons with a London derby against each other this weekend.
The Blues should go into the new campaign with plenty of confidence because they finished fourth in the league last term. Also, Enzo Maresca collected his first two trophies with the club by winning the Club World Cup and Conference League.
Meanwhile, Palace finished 12th in the Premier League last season and won the FA Cup. Oliver Glasner’s side have started the new season by beating Liverpool in the Community Shield last weekend, too.
Even though Chelsea’s opening day record is average, they will be favourites to overcome a strong Palace outfit on Sunday.
Interestingly, Palace centre-back Marc Guehi has never beaten former club Chelsea, so we hope that trend continues this week.
We expect it to be a blockbuster meeting on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge. In fact, we’ve picked out three extremely tasty individual battles that are likely to decide the outcome of the result on the opening weekend.
Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella competing against Crystal Palace defender Daniel Munoz in a Premier League match.
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Marc Cucurella vs Daniel Munoz
First up, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella against Palace’s Daniel Munoz looks like a mouth-watering clash that fans will be gripped by.
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Cucurella, 27, is an attack-minded left-back who’s impossible to pin down with the positions he takes up on the pitch. Similarly, Munoz is a right wing-back with an incredible engine and attacking threat.
Player Club Season Appearances Goals Assists
Marc Cucurella Chelsea 2024/25 54 7 4
Daniel Munoz Crystal Palace 2024/25 46 6 8
Marc Cucurella vs Daniel Munoz across all competitions last season
It will be fascinating to see who comes out on top because they will both be operating up and down the same third of Stamford Bridge.
Darren Bent called Cucurella the Premier League’s best left-back, while teammate Reece James was his pick for the division’s strongest right-back. In fairness, 29-year-old Palace star Munoz isn’t a million miles away with how he played at Selhurst Park last year.
Maxence Lacroix vs Joao Pedro
A lot of the talk about Chelsea going into the new season is around new signing Joao Pedro, so how Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix, 25, deals with the Brazilian attacker could be crucial.
It has been the perfect start for Pedro since he joined the Blues from Brighton for £60m. The 23-year-old frontman netted three goals in three appearances at the Club World Cup, including a stunning chip to help beat Paris Saint-Germain in the final. He even scored two goals in two games during last week’s pre-season friendlies.
Jamie O’Hara thinks Pedro looks the real deal already in Chelsea colours, and we couldn’t agree more because his movement and composure look so impressive.
If he wants to start quickly in the Premier League with his new club, he will need to get the better of a quality Palace defence. In particular, he’s likely to be in direct competition with Lacroix, who operates in the heart of a back three.
Lacroix proved during his first year in English football he’s perfect for the division with his pace, strength and reading of the game.
Chelsea's Cole Palmer and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton during a Premier League match.
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Cole Palmer vs Adam Wharton
Cole Palmer, 23, and Adam Wharton, 21, could end up in the same England team at the 2026 World Cup, but they’ll be in direct opposition on the opening weekend of the Premier League.
Of course, Palmer’s now an established name after two outstanding seasons for Chelsea. The attacking midfielder was nominated last week for the 2025 Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player.
The Blues playmaker will look to be the creative force against Palace, but we expect him to be up against a hugely talented youngster in Wharton.
Generally, Wharton is a deep-lying midfield playmaker who loves to get on the ball and dictate games. From Palace’s perspective, he may need to be at his defensive best to limit Palmer’s influence.