Roy Hodgson admits he is wary of making a judgement on Chelsea too soon after their summer spending spree.
Crystal Palace travel to west London to face Frank Lampard's Blues at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, with the Eagles currently ahead of Chelsea in the Premier League table after two wins from three games so far.
In contrast, the Blues have won one, lost one and drawn one of their opening three games, with Lampard's men coming back from three goals down last weekend to draw 3-3 with newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion.
But Chelsea have several new signings they are integrating within their squad, following the summer arrivals of Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva, while goalkeeper Edouard Mendy joined last week from Rennes.
And Palace boss Hodgson has been impressed with the business they have done this summer, although he has said that Chelsea will need time before they can be properly judged this season.
"They've made some excellent signings," he said, speaking at his pre-match press conference.
"I think three games is too early to assess any team.
"It's when things settle down you can make judgements, but I'm aware of how much quality they have in their team and their squad as well."
Hodgson added that he has also been impressed with Lampard and the job he has done since taking over at Chelsea in the summer of 2019, after just one year in management with Derby County.
"I think he's been excellent, shown tremendous composure and maturity," Hodgson said.
"He's not afraid to spend money where available, his start in management has been really good but I'm not surprised.
"It doesn't surprise me one bit - the same with Steven Gerrard - that they're making a success of their start in management."
