23-year-old England International, Cole Palmer reportedly fractured his little toe two days ago in a domestic accident while recovering from groin issue he picked up in September, ultimately leading to the midfielder missing out on 11 games so far. His last appearance was in the Blues’ 2-1 defeat at Manchester United in October. Palmer has also been confirmed to be out for at least 10 days following the incident, and will miss Chelsea’s next 3 fixtures – Saturday’s Premier League clash at Burnley, Tuesday’s Champions League home game against Barcelona, and Saturday’s derby against Arsenal.
However, Chelsea believes he could be available for their UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona, as players like him “can change a game in one action,” even if only for a few minutes after several weeks without competition.
“Cole Palmer has a fractured toe after an accident at home. He is probably not available for Burnley… Barcelona or Arsenal, for sure.
“His toe, it’s fractured… Cole was almost back from the groin injury but now he has this small issue,” said Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea’s tactical reactions
Chelsea who had a specially-adapted football boot made for Palmer to hasten his recovery from the freak toe injury will likely turn to Estevao Willian who was phenomenal with a dramatic winning goal off the bench against Liverpool. Estevao is a great player who can be used on the right-hand side or in a more central role behind a striker. He was deployed to the No. 10 role against Benfica prior to the win over Liverpool.
Enzo Maresca, who is quite pleased with his versatility commented: “We consider all our players to give them minutes in all positions.
“Estevao reminds me a lot of Cole Palmer when Cole was with me in the Under-23 at Manchester City. Cole’s path has been similar to Estevao’s path in terms of starting wide as a winger and then slowly you can move inside. In the Premier League, if you want to play in the middle, you need to be physically prepared.”
Another great option at Cole’s substitute is Enzo Fernandez who often drifts into more advanced roles whenever is in possession with a few instances where he started further up the pitch. Although this would likely require Romeo Lavia to start in midfield, unless Malo Gusto or Reece Hames came in there.
Joao Pedro is another possible substitute for Palmer, although is most unlikely since Chelsea are currently short of strikers.
Upcoming fixtures
Burnley vs Chelsea – Sat, 22 November 13:30
Chelsea vs Barcelona – Tues, 25 November 21:00
Chelsea vs Arsenal – Sun, 30 November 17:30
