Cole Palmer problem explained by Enzo Maresca after Arsenal vs Chelsea shock
The England international and Chelsea's star man was not selected for the fixture on Sunday afternoon between the Premier League pair at the Emirates
by Alex Richards · The MirrorChelsea boss Enzo Maresca left Cole Palmer out of his squad at Arsenal in a bid to protect his star man.
England international Palmer has been struggling with illness this week and only played half of Thursday's Europa League win over Copenhagen. And while he is understood to be over that particular issue, it has left him feeling low at a time where a hamstring issue has continued to be monitored by club medical staff, causing concern during a session on Saturday.
As such, there was sufficient worry that playing at the Emirates could lead Palmer to exacerbating his problem, and Maresca and medical staff did not want to take any chances.
Asked pre-game about the issue, Maresca said: "Last week, as we know, he had some problem and unfortunately, yesterday he had a very small problem and we think that probably after the international break he will be ready to be back with us.
"He had an injury yesterday during the session. It was a very light session and that’s why we think it’s nothing important. We still need to wait and we hope he can be back after the international break."
That would also make Palmer - currently in his worst goalscoring run for Chelsea having gone 10 games without a goal - a doubt for England's upcoming double header under new boss Thomas Tuchel.
Without Palmer and amid the ongoing absence of starting striker Nicolas Jackson, Maresca again elected to operate with a fluid front three, with Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Christopher Nkunku all getting the nod.
Interestingly, as he announced he would earlier this week, Maresca also swapped goalkeepers in North London. Robert Sanchez is back in the starting XI, with Filip Jorgensen having been in goal against Copenhagen, dropping out.
"Yes, it will be Robert playing against Arsenal," Maresca had confirmed during his pre-match press conference. "I've said many times we are happy with both goalkeepers. But sometimes, you have to be flexible.
"Since we started, the idea wasn't to change the goalkeeper but you have to be flexible; we do this with the game plan, the way we want to attack and defend, but we also have to be flexible with players [changing the personnel]."
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