Chelsea fans all around the world will have been very worried after the last few minutes of their game at the weekend against Manchester United.
Away from the 1-1 result, Cole Palmer was caught by a nasty challenge from defender Lisandro Martinez, which somehow escaped a red card.
The England international had ice on his knee after the game, and was immediately going to become a worry that he would not be fit to take on Arsenal at the weekend.
Palmer missed training with the first team yesterday, although was never going to be involved in tomorrow night’s Conference League game due to not being named in the squad for the group stages of that competition.
Enzo Maresca hopeful Cole Palmer will be fit to face Arsenal
A player as crucial as Palmer is always going to be a big miss, however Enzo Maresca refused to rule out the prospect of him not missing any games.
He said in his pre-match press conference that they are hoping he is fit enough to take on the Gunners at the weekend.
He said: “Cole didn’t train yesterday. We will see today if he is able to train with us. We hope so [if fit vs Arsenal]. But we need to see and then decide.”
Yeah, for sure [it could be a risk]. We said he didn’t train the last two days. We’ll see. The tackle was not a normal one. Hopefully he can be back.
While his absence would no doubt be huge, there are a number of players on the fringes of starting action who could now be handed their chance at impressing in his place.
Joao Felix could replace Palmer if injured
One of those is Joao Felix, who is yet to start in the Premier League since rejoining the club over the summer.
It feels as if Felix would be the best replacement for Palmer, and will likely get his chance to audition for the role at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night.
Maresca has already hinted that Felix and Palmer could play together in his system, suggesting the Portugal international is certainly in his plans going forwards.
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