Enzo Maresca has just given an update on Cole Palmer’s fitness following Chelsea’s win over Servette.
We didn’t notice anything ourselves while he was on the pitch, but at full time the attacking midfielder was limping and wincing noticeably. He went straight down the tunnel instead of staying to applaud the fans or greet the opposition, and looked like he was off for treatment.
According to Maresca, Palmer “felt something”, but “looks fine”. The attacking midfielder has apparently already been “checked” by medical staff who found nothing particularly wrong. That’s a huge relief.
https://x.com/JacobsBen/status/1826724977975988443
Second string failures bring big names into the firing line
Some will question whether Palmer should have been on the pitch at all. One can see why Maresca brought him on with other first team stars when the score was still level, but it just shows the potential damaged caused by the initial XI not getting the job done before that.
Maresca spoke about Sunday, and we’re sure Palmer will be starting that game. We need 3 points in the league to really get this campaign underway, and Palmer is essential to getting us functioning in attacking areas.
Assuming Palmer is in, it will be interesting to see what happens with Noni Madueke. Will he start on the bench for a third game this season? Or will Maresca juggle things around to get him into the starting lineup? The manager demanded more “consistency” from the winger in training when asked about him in the press conference today, so perhaps he needs to do more to get a chance. That storyline looks to be one to watch, that’s for sure.
Certainly Christopher Nkunku, who started tonight, won’t be putting out more than an hour against Wolves this weekend as we keep him on a gradual ramp up to full time football.
