As the faces of Chelsea and Arsenal, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka are compared as much as any two players, but not always fairly.
Saka has been Arsenal’s starboy for years now, and he is undeniably one of the Premier League’s top talents.
The emergence of Palmer at Chelsea is a more recent development, but he has hit levels over the past two seasons that have put him in that conversation as well.
Palmer’s injury will see him miss most of Chelsea’s November games, and his absence only serves to remind us just how important he is to the Blues. So important that Jamie Redknapp thinks Palmer’s return could put Chelsea in title contention.
But despite Saka and Palmer being eternally compared, the Arsenal man does seem to be let off the hook more easily.
Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka during Chelsea vs Arsenal
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Bukayo Saka avoiding the criticism Cole Palmer received at Chelsea last season
During the second half of last season, you couldn’t read about Chelsea without a certain run being brought up.
Palmer’s goalless Chelsea run was alarming to many, with the Englishman failing to score from open play since January. The streak lasted 17 games, ending against Brentford back in September.
The media had a field day with the Chelsea star, but a similar run from Saka this season is going under the radar.
The Arsenal star has scored just once from open play in his last 16 Premier League outings. He hasn’t assisted a goal in his last 21. That’s a record pretty much on par with the one that earned Palmer so much criticism last season.
Sure, Arsenal are top of the league, but this dip in output is surely worth pointing out regardless of team success.
Yet there seems to be no heat on Saka right now.
Cole Palmer celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Tottenham in the Premier League.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Cole Palmer suffers from success at Chelsea
Palmer’s output since arriving at Stamford Bridge is ridiculous.
Despite the aforementioned dip, he ended the campaign with 23 league goal involvements, following up on 33 the season before. His importance to Maresca cannot be overstated.
Not to say Saka isn’t Arsenal’s most important attacker — he definitely is — but his poor form hasn’t had the same impact on his team as Palmer’s had on Chelsea. Both are fantastic players, but they seem to be held to a different standard.
Arsenal look like clear frontrunners for the league, holding a commanding six-point lead after ten games, but if they give up that gap and a title race gets into full swing, surely Saka’s lack of production will be thrust into the spotlight. It’s only fair.