Eze unlucky, 9/10 shines – Crystal Palace player ratings vs Chelsea
Crystal Palace made a strong start to the 2025/26 Premier League season with a 0-0 draw away at Chelsea on Sunday.
Notwithstanding being downgraded from the Europa League to the Conference League, the Eagles have enjoyed a wonderful few months, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield.
Optimism has been at an all-time high around the South London side, despite uncertainty over the futures of Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze.
And they proved why they’re such a threat under Oliver Glasner, shutting down Chelsea and frustrating the life out of the Stamford Bridge crowd in this London derby.
It could have been even better for Palace had they not seen an Eze rocket disallowed in the 13th minute, with VAR spotting an infringement from Guehi.
Even so, a goalless draw away at Chelsea would have been an ideal way to kick things off for any Palace fan — and that’s what Glasner’s men earned, even despite some late pressure from the hosts.
Here are the full Crystal Palace player ratings from their opening fixture of the new season:
Palace rearguard effort shuts down Chelsea
Dean Henderson – 7
Had precious little to do as Chelsea floundered in attack, making just two saves — though they were worth 0.65 goals prevented. Tidy enough with the ball at his feet and alert to any balls behind the Palace defence.
Chris Richards – 8
Composed on the ball and solid defensively, winning all four of his duels, while making two tackles, two blocks, three clearances and an interception (FotMob).
Maxence Lacroix – 9
Like Richards, Lacroix was calm and collected on the ball, and even busier defensively. The Frenchman made seven clearances, three blocks, two interceptions, two tackles and two recovery, alongside winning six of his 10 duels. An immovable object against a lacklustre Chelsea defence.
Marc Guehi – 7
Caught out by VAR for Eze’s disallowed goal and endured a couple of sloppy moments with the ball, but performed well at the back to maintain the clean sheet.
Daniel Munoz – 6
Nowhere near as effective going forward as usual, but Munoz kept things tight at the other end, not giving Jamie Gittens any joy.
Adam Wharton – 7
It’s been a strange week for Wharton following links to Real Madrid. The young midfielder showed no signs of distractions here, though, creating two chances and showing off his impressive passing skills. Wharton was run down physically a few times, though, as he was dribbled past four times.
Will Hughes – 7
Won the free-kick for Eze’s disallowed goal and got through plenty of legwork in the midfield. Wisely brought off in the 70th minute after picking up a foolish yellow card just after half-time for dragging down Caicedo.
Tyrick Mitchell – 7
A day to forget on the ball for Mitchell, who completed just 55% of his passes throughout the 90 minutes. But the 25-year-old made up for it with a great defensive showing, repeatedly covering across his backline to snuff out Chelsea openings.
Ismaila Sarr – 7
Made a vital clearance off the line in the opening exchanges to deny Gittens, but proved ineffective at the other end of the pitch, failing to attempt a shot while creating only one chance.
Eze shines amid Spurs, Arsenal rumours
Eberechi Eze – 8
Desperately unlucky to see a wonderful strike chalked off. Tried a little too hard at times, making a few poor decisions in promising moments — perhaps in an attempt to keep the attention of Spurs and Arsenal? Regardless, Eze was Palace’s biggest attacking threat by far, attempting six shots and creating one big chance, while completing two of his three dribbles.
Jean-Philippe Mateta – 5
Missed a big opportunity midway through the first half and was otherwise restricted to speculative efforts from distance. Most of Mateta’s best moments came in his own box, helping Palace deal with a deluge of Chelsea corners.
Devenny helps finish the job
Jefferson Lerma (on for Hughes, 70′) – 5
Put himself about as you’d expect, but didn’t see too much of the ball.
Justin Devenny (on for Eze, 84′) – 6
Made a couple of tackles and clearances to help see the game out.