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 by how they are run, an opening day 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City showed just how far away they are from 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.

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.

Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace and Lucas Paqueta of West Ham United on August 24, 2024

© 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.