After a chaotic summer of transfer activity, Chelsea can finally focus solely on matters on the field when they face Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Blues booked their place in the Conference League proper during the week despite defeat in Switzerland and will look to build on last week's thrashing of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Match preview
© Imago
With, at time of writing, £200m spent on new players, and over 20 players departing, it has been another summer of upheaval at Chelsea, something which has become common under Todd Boehly's reign.
With the club making many unwanted headlines off the field and coming in for criticism about how they are run, an opening day 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City showed just how far away they are from the top despite the hundreds of millions that have been spent.
New manager Enzo Maresca silenced some of the critics last Sunday though, when Chelsea hit Wolves for six at Molineux, with the performances of Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer earning them places in the upcoming England squad.
A rapid-fire hat-trick from Madueke - with all three assisted by Palmer - saw Chelsea blow Wolves away early in the second half, after going in for the interval level at 2-2, scoring six on the road for the first time in over two-and-a-half years.
It is still unclear what to expect from Chelsea this season though, as a strong, expensively-assembled side fell to defeat away to Servette on Thursday.
© Reuters
The 2-1 defeat in Geneva was not costly, as Chelsea still progressed 3-2 on aggregate, but it has raised further question marks about some facets of the squad, especially defensively, as they conceded two for the third time in four games.
Friday's draw for the league phase means Chelsea will face a daunting trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana and to the hostile atmosphere at Panathinaikos, so they will hope facing minnows such as Shamrock Rovers of Ireland and Noah of Armenia will aid a smooth passage into the knockouts without detracting too much from their domestic matters.
There was no European hangover last weekend though, and Maresca will hope for something similar here against opponents Chelsea have a phenomenal recent record against.
Despite all of their troubles last season, Chelsea still completed a league double over Palace once again, extending their winning streak against the Eagles to 14 matches - 13 in the Premier League.
Another win here would equal the English league record for successive wins against a single opponent, currently held by Man City over Bournemouth.
For Crystal Palace, their sole aim will be to condemn Chelsea to back-to-back home defeats to start a season for the first time since 1978-79.
However, fortune has not been on the side of Oliver Glasner's men so far, as they sit near the foot of the table with two defeats from two.
© Imago
Poor defending has also contributed to those losses, but Eberechi Eze's disallowed free kick against Brentford was a huge talking point at a critical time of the game, and the England international was cursing the crossbar against West Ham United in another defeat last week.
This is the first time Palace have lost their opening two games since the Frank de Boer era, when Palace lost their first seven, but still recovered to finish 11th.
A relegation dogfight is not what was expected of the Eagles pre-season though, especially after the positive impact Glasner made when he arrived in February.
The Austrian manager went full strength in midweek for their EFL Cup clash with Norwich City, perhaps to help build confidence after those two disappointing results, and it worked a treat as Palace won 4-0.
Eze was on form, notching his first of the season, while Daichi Kamada also opened his Palace account and Jean-Philippe Mateta netted a brace, including an eye-catching acrobatic volley.
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Imago
Chelsea could remain largely unchanged from the side that beat Wolves, with Mykhaylo Mudryk the only obvious candidate in danger of losing his place in the side.
Pedro Neto did not travel to Geneva, but he replaced the Ukrainian at half time at Molineux and could be given a full debut after laying on Joao Felix for Chelsea's sixth goal.
None of the players brought into the side against Servette on Thursday are likely to retain their spot, but Madueke and Enzo Fernandez were surprise inclusions from the beginning and should start again.
On the injury front, Romeo Lavia is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, and Reece James is still on the comeback trail with a thigh issue while also currently serving a suspension from last season.
After going with a very strong lineup in midweek against Norwich, Palace may stay largely unchanged, with Eze, Mateta and Adam Wharton all featuring from the start.
Matheus Franca remains out injured, and he is now joined on the sidelines by Chadi Riad, after the new signing was forced off after just 10 minutes in midweek.
Riad's injury presents a problem for Glasner, especially after Joachim Andersen's departure, but Marc Guehi is staying despite intense interest from Newcastle United.
Sam Johnstone has left for Wolves meaning Dean Henderson is now assured of the number one jersey this season, but Matt Turner is arriving from Nottingham Forest to provide competition and cover.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Pedro Neto; Jackson
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Henderson; Clyne, Guehi, Richards; Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell; Kamada, Eze, Mateta
We say: Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace
With so many players at his disposal, it appears Maresca has stumbled across his strongest XI quite early into his spell, and an attacking performance which resembles anything like what they produced at Wolves will surely seal another three points here.
Palace have shown plenty of promising signs despite opening with two defeats, but defensive departures and injuries have weakened them, and the goals just have not been as free-flowing as they were in the latter stages of last season so far.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
