Alonso particularly impressed on Wednesday night and is always a threat going forward.
The duo will face a battle to hold onto their places when Reece James and Ben Chilwell get up to speed following their summer exploits with England at Euro 2020, so both will need to impress on Saturday if Tuchel does indeed keep faith with them.
N’Golo Kante picked up a hamstring injury in the midweek victory, so Mateo Kovacic is likely to come in to protect the defence.
He will be joined by Jorginho, who played for an hour on Wednesday night after helping Italy to the Euro 2020 title this summer.
Forwards – Mount, Havertz, Werner
Lukaku has been brought in to solve Chelsea’s goalscoring problems, but won’t appear in the match against Palace.
Instead, Kai Havertz will get the nod to lead the line after an impressive end to last season.
He will likely be supported by Mason Mount and Timo Werner as Chelsea go in search of an opening-day victory.
