Game Week 3 Predictions: Chelsea to beat Palace at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace preview: Blues look to maintain momentum post-transfer window; Palace seeks first points after summer struggles.

Chelsea and Crystal Palace will slug it out at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, who will come out tops? (Photo credit: Opta)

 Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace

Stamford Bridge Stadium

1:30pm

This fixture used to bring lots of difficulties to Chelsea, but things are not the same; the uncertainties of the transfer window have now been laid to rest, the window is closed till winter, and we can all rest now.

Over the summer transfer window, Chelsea spent over £200 million in transfer fees on over ten players but still couldn't bring in an out-and-out striker. Even at the last minute, the Blues made futile attempts to sign Victor Osimhen, only to discover later that Chelsea's salary offers significantly fell short of the Nigerian's current salary.

Crystal Palace isn’t in a good place after the summer window; they were able to keep their beloved defender Marc Guehi, but Joachim Anderson bade them farewell, and they had to also lose a couple of influential players like Michael Olise.

Palace suffered defeats in their opening two games, but it’s not down to a lack of efforts. Ebere Eze has seen all attempts blocked, saved, or disallowed by the referee, and it’s taking Jean Phillippe Mateta time to reintegrate into the team after a busy summer.

Chelsea found ways to silence critics at Wolves last weekend, shipping six past the hapless hosts, but there remain concerns over the Blues’ defense. Conceding two bad goals and maintaining a high line with slow defenders will always come back to haunt them.

Palace welcomed Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah late in the window, and it’s not certain that he will feature in this one; he may have to wait for the end of the first international break of the season to be able to debut for his hometown club.

How will they both approach this? Chelsea came out of their midweek Europa League game with a loss; they were fortunate to qualify on aggregate, despite losing the game on the night; they must ensure they don't fall into a rut or fall too far behind in the league

With three points on the board, a win keeps Chelsea closer to the top than the bottom, which must please Enzo Maresca. However, Crystal Palace will stretch and test the hosts as much as they can. The tools available to the Italians at Chelsea's dugout should be able to do the job, but it won't be a walkover.

Palace aims to secure their first point against Noni Madueke, who scored a hattrick the previous weekend, and Cole Palmer, who consistently performs at a high level. It’s going to be enjoyable at the Stamford Bridge Stadium on Sunday.

Verdict: Chelsea to win.