Big-spending Chelsea held by Palace as Newcastle beats Tottenham in Premier League

Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new players is proving no guarantee of victories for Chelsea in the Premier League.

A 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday meant Chelsea has won just one of its first three league matches this season — even if that was a 6-2 rout of Wolverhampton last weekend.

Eberechi Eze’s fine curling shot from the edge of the area in the 53rd minute secured a point for Palace, which spent most of the summer transfer window desperately trying to keep its best players. Eze fits into the category.

Chelsea, on the other hand, brought in 12 players — at a cost of around $290 million — in the latest huge outlay by its American investors. Only one new signing, Pedro Neto, started against Palace at Stamford Bridge and it was two players signed last year who combined for the 25th-minute opener as Nicolas Jackson tapped in from Cole Palmer’s pass.

Chelsea has four points from a possible nine, having opened the season by losing to Manchester City.

Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 thanks to Alexander Isak’s 78th-minute winner at St. James’ Park to stay unbeaten on seven points. Dan Burn’s own-goal in the 56th brought Spurs back into the match after Harvey Barnes’ goal in the 37th.

Manchester United hosts Liverpool later Sunday in what is historically the biggest game in English soccer.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer