It's easy for Chelsea to play a team in other leagues than teams in EPL. I thought that Chelsea will start this season in a grand style and win three consecutive matches but they failed to win their first match. From the look at their performance yesterday, Maresca needs to work more on the team to stable their performance. Let it not be that they will be very strong in one match and become weak in three to four matches.
I was really disappointed at Chelsea's performance against Crystal Palace, I guess that's because I expected so much from them after how they won the Fifa club world cup and the performance they put during the pre season friendlies.
The issues is not the draw against Crystal Palace, but the performance. They would have lost the game if Crystal Palace had taken their chance in the first half. I also agree that Chelsea does better playing against teams outside of England and struggle with English teams. I would not want to judge them very early, because it's just first match, but Enzo Maresca has a lot to do to improve the performance. The team has potential and I hope they do better in their performances.
Does this mean the Premier League is more competitive than other leagues, and even the Champions League? Winning the Club World Cup trophy has shown Chelsea to be the best team currently. However, when faced with Premier League matches, Chelsea were held to a draw by Crystal Palace in their opening week, failing to score a single goal against them.
Cole Palmer scored two goals and two assists in the Club World Cup final, and he also excelled in the UEFA Europa Conference League. However, when he moved to the Premier League, even over the last half of the season, Cole Palmer has completely frozen out and struggled to get on the scoresheet.