Cole Palmer has been the talisman for Chelsea since his transfer from Manchester City in the summer of 2023.
In his 76 games in all competitions for the Blues, he has scored 39 goals and provided a further 21 assists. His performances have led to praise throughout the game with him seen as one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League.
After being left of the of the UEFA Conference League squad for the group stages of the tournament, Palmer made his first start of the competition in the round of 16 first leg against Copenhagen.
The midfielder played 72 minutes of the game, with goals from Reece James and Enzo Fernandez earning them a 2-1 win to take into the return leg at Stamford Bridge next week. The game did, however, see Palmer's barren run without a goal contribution continue.
The 22-year-old has not been on the scoresheet since scoring in the 2-2 Premier League draw against AFC Bournemouth back in mid-January. His wait for an assist goes on even longer.
The last time he set up a goal directly, came back at the start of December, where he scored and assisted in the 3-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa. It means that he has now gone 16 games in all competitions without an assist.
However, that doesn’t tell the full story. According to TNT Sports, in those games Palmer has still created 33 chances for his teammates, so his lack of assists is somewhat down to the forwards not taking the chances he’s provided them with.
The fact that Palmer is still creating chances that are not being taken is surely a good sign. The worry would be if the chances for his teammates had dried up from Chelsea’s main source of creativity.
Chelsea are currently without striker Nicolas Jackson through injury. Fellow strike Marc Guiu is also on the sidelines with Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku filling in in the central striker role.
The two, along with their fellow teammates, will look to take the chances created by Palmer in the upcoming games and bring to an end his wait for an assist.
Chelsea return to Premier League action on Sunday (2pm kick-off) when they take on relegation-threatened Leicester City at Stamford Bridge. The match will see Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall come up against their former club.
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Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.
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