What happened the last time Chelsea played Crystal Palace on the opening day of a Premier League season

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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.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca will be delighted as Premier League announce Chelsea’s first fixture of 2025/26 season

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.

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.

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 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.