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Cole Palmer has been ruled out of Chelsea’s Sunday showdown against Crystal Palace due to a minor thigh complaint that continues to hamper the attacking midfielder.
The Blues unveiled their starting eleven at 12.45pm on Sunday, a full seventy-five minutes before their 2pm kickoff with the Eagles at Selhurst Park. Among the names listed, Palmer’s glaring absence from the team sheet immediately caught the attention of supporters and pundits alike.
Rather than deploying his talismanic playmaker, Liam Rosenior has elected to field a midfield triumvirate featuring Andrey Santos, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, while entrusting his attacking duties to a front three of Estevao, Pedro Neto and Joao Pedro. As concerned supporters flooded social media platforms demanding answers about Palmer’s unexpected omission, official confirmation emerged that the England international remains in the recovery phase from a troublesome thigh issue.
Bobby Vincent, Football.London’s dedicated Chelsea correspondent, provided the crucial update: “Cole Palmer missing for #CFC today with minor thigh injury. Trained last two days and hope is he will be fit for trip to Naples.”
Speaking directly to Sky Sports in his pre-match briefing, Rosenior offered further insight into the decision-making process behind Palmer’s absence: “Unfortunately for us, Cole’s not quite right for this one. I’ve said before in press conferences, we want to make sure every player is at 100 per cent.
“There’s no use risking players in January for what we want to achieve. He’s got a little niggle in his thigh, he’s not quite 100 per cent but he’s got a chance for Wednesday. Hopefully he’s back for then.”
This represents the second successive fixture Palmer has been forced to sit out, having failed to even make the substitutes’ bench for the Blues’ midweek 1-0 triumph over Pafos at Stamford Bridge. Rosenior had already disclosed that his exclusion from that European encounter stemmed from persistent “tightness” in his thigh, although the manager had remained cautiously optimistic about securing his return in the near future.
It appears that Sunday’s London derby with Palace has arrived fractionally too soon for the gifted Englishman to make his comeback. The 23-year-old has endured a frustratingly stop-start campaign this season, with various niggling injuries restricting him to just 12 Premier League appearances thus far in what has proven to be a challenging period for both player and club.
