Chelsea full squad for Arsenal finally revealed as crucial Cole Palmer injury decision made
Enzo Maresca might be feeling a great deal of compassion for his counterpart on Sunday after seeing Mikel Arteta go more than two months without Martin Odegaard. The manager of Chelsea must now deal with his own anxious wait and conundrum.
Cole Palmer had no more than one training session before the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge. It won’t be evident whether he made it until the teams leave, which is a little more than an hour before kickoff.
Palmer is a major injury concern for Chelsea, as he has assisted on more goals than any other player in the league so far this season. His only game missed for the team since joining, aside from suspension, was a haunting recurrence.
That was down to an illness, this is a genuine injury. Palmer was on the receiving end of a poor, late, and high challenge from Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez last weekend. Although he finished what was left of the game, he had to be loaded up with ice at full-time.
The 22-year-old wasn’t able to feature on Thursday against FC Noah due to not being selected in the competition squad for the group phase, but appears not to have been ready physically regardless. Maresca revealed ahead of that game that it was becoming touch and go whether he would make Arsenal.
Chelsea trained again on Saturday, the last chance Palmer had to get out onto the grass before Arsenal roll up. Fortunately for Maresca, it is the only worry he has in the group. Unfortunately for Maresca, it is perhaps with the most influential individual in the league.
The rest of the squad largely picks itself from there. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall may well see himself miss out entirely due to the plethora of options that can fill the bench with an almost fully fit side. Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, and a host of the midweek XI that battered Noah will also do well to get a place even on the bench.
Unless there have been late injuries picked up, there will be a familiar and strong feeling to the names Maresca does select. Here, football.london has what is expected at SW6, with all eyes on Palmer.
Defenders: Malo Gusto, Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella, Renato Veiga
Midfielders: Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Romeo Lavia
Attackers: Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Mykhailo Mudryk, Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix