Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer has a very good record against Manchester United, but he was unable to build on it on Saturday.
Palmer and Chelsea lost 1-0 to Michael Carrick’s side, with the 23-year-old having a quiet game.
One of his teammates was much more threatening, though neither he nor any other Chelsea player could find the back of the net.
Pedro Neto of Chelsea runs with the ball
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Pedro Neto was a threat in Manchester United defeat
Pedro Neto takes a lot of flak from the Chelsea fan base, but you cannot fault his effort. He tries hard and there was some quality to match his work rate on Saturday.
As per Sofascore, Neto made two key passes and completed three out of eight crosses.
The £54m winger also had an xA (expected assists) of 0.84 so was quite unfortunate to finish the game without an assist.
Say what you want about Pedro Neto, but he had a better game against Manchester United than Cole Palmer 🤷♂️
Pedro Neto's stats vs United
Photo by Izzy Poles – AMA/Getty Images
Had Chelsea been more clinical, as clinical as Matheus Cunha was, it would have been a different story.
Cunha scored with an xG of just 0.22 after taking two shots during the match. When Bruno Fernandes’ ball found him, the Brazilian took his chance beautifully.
Neto and Co need to do the same in their remaining games, or they have no hope of being in the Champions League next season. In fact, that already looks unlikely now, though Liam Rosenior still believes Chelsea can finish fifth.
Cole Palmer could have done more
At this stage of the campaign and given what is at stake, Rosenior would have been hoping for Palmer to really step things up, especially with Joao Pedro absent from the matchday squad.
In the end, Neto was Chelsea’s best attacker on the night, while Palmer faded as the game went on.
Palmer was bright in the opening stages of the Premier League fixture, but his influence decreased. The attacking midfielder finished the match with just one key pass to his name and zero shots on target.
Join Our Newsletter
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox