It is not entirely the fault of Cole Palmer that Chelsea FC are slumping right now. Losers of three of the last four, the Blues have the easiest game on their schedule (at home versus dead last place Southampton FC) at the right time.
Palmer is scoreless in the Blues’ last six, and he hasn’t netted in well over a month. As Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca pointed out though, the club is over reliant on the English winger.
Chelsea vs Southampton FC FYIs
Kickoff: Tue. Feb. 25, 8:15pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
Blues Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
PL Position, Form: Chelsea 7th, 43 pts, WLWLL Southampton FC 20th, 9 pts, LLWLL
Google Result Probability: Chelsea 82% Draw 11% Southampton FC 7%
“I am always concerned about general performance but I am not concerned about Cole because Cole is a human being and during the season he can have some moments where he struggles a little bit more,” Maresca said earlier today, ahead of the visit from Southampton FC.
“The problem with Cole is probably that we rely on Cole for everything and I said since we start we need to rely on the team. For sure, we need big players, top players like Cole but we are not worried about Cole at all.”
Maresca also made it clear that he won’t be going back to Robert Sánchez in between the sticks, despite the howler that Jørgensen committed in the loss to Aston Villa on the weekend.
“If we need to change players every time there is a mistake, we need to change players game by game, many players,” the gaffer said. “But no, nothing has changed.”
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction vs Southampton FC
Filip Jørgensen; Malo Gusto, Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill, Marc Cucurella; Reece James, Moises Caicedo; Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Jadon Sancho; Christopher Nkunku
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.
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