Many still wonder about what the future holds for Chelsea this season.
It is a bright, sunny afternoon in the capital as they look to get their first home league win under their new manager.
Fans will be hoping to see a deluge of goals after their 6-2 hammering of Wolves last weekend.
Maresca took charge of his first Premier League game in West London but his side fell to defeat against defending champions Man City in the season opener.
It was a disappointing performance by The Blues, struggling to create clear-cut chances to make the fixture as difficult as it seemed on paper for Guardiola’s side.
The former Man City assistant manager will be looking to put that right today against Crystal Palace, showing the same attacking mentality that led to them putting Wolves to the sword in their last match.
After making an impressive end to the last campaign, two defeats in as many games has had Crystal Palace fans concerned for the season ahead.
With an international break looming, defeat today would leave Oliver Glasner’s side in the bottom three without a single point.
That said, a positive result this afternoon would put a completely different spin on their start to the campaign.
Much has been said about the size of Chelsea’s first team squad already this season.
While it seemed like after all their transfer dealing that Maresca was amassing a bloated squad of around 300 players, things are slightly different now.
The club managed to trim the first team squad before the window closed and they are now left with 31 players, although only 25 can be registered for the Premier League season.
With the transfer window finally closed, Chelsea can focus to matters on the pitch as they welcome Crystal Palace to Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
After thrashing Wolves in their last Premier League fixture, The Blues could remain largely unchanged this afternoon.
Mykhaylo Mudryk is the only player really in any danger of losing his starting berth after he was substituted for Pedro Neto at half-time at Molineux.
Maresca’s side lost to minnows Servette in the Europa Conference League qualifier on Thursday, with none of the much-changed side doing anything to warrant a start today.
Romeo Lavia is out with a hamstring injury while Reece James is still on the comeback trail from a thigh issue suffered before the start of the season.
The visitors put a strong side out against Norwich in the Carabao Cup and it is unlikely that Glasner will make many changes from that team.
Matheus Franca is out injured and is joined on the sidelines by Chadi Riad after the recent signing was forced off after ten minutes in midweek.
That leaves some difficult choices for the Palace manager after Joachim Andersen left in the transfer window but The Eagles managed to keep hold of Marc Guehi.
Dean Henderson is cemented as number one at Selhurst Park after Sam Johnstone left for Wolves but Matt Turner has been brought in to provide some competition for that goalkeeper shirt.