‘Struggled a little’… Mauricio Pochettino now says Chelsea missed £45m player despite beating Crystal Palace

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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino thinks his side really missed one of their suspended players last night.

Chelsea went into their game against Crystal Palace without Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer because of suspension but were still able to win the match 2-1.

Nevertheless, Mauricio Pochettino told Prime Video after the full-time whistle that the Blues were impacted by the absence of one of their attackers.

With Sterling and Palmer both unavailable for selection, Mykhailo Mudryk was handed a start and did not disappoint.

The Ukrainian opened the scoring and impressed former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon with his all-round performance.

Chelsea missed Cole Palmer

Pochettino felt that Chelsea missed having a natural playmaker like Palmer on the pitch against Palace.

After the game, the Argentine said: “Today, maybe we missed this playmaker… when it’s Palmer there on the pitch and [Christopher] Nkunku can do this, but he’s more of an offensive player that is going to go forward, arrive to play in half lines, you know, in space, in between the lines.

“And we missed sometimes because in between the corner and Moi Caicedo we struggled a little bit to try to circulate better the ball and find better space.”

Should Cole Palmer start against Luton Town?

Absolutely. He has been one of Chelsea’s best players this season, if not the best.

In 15 Premier League appearances, Palmer has scored six goals and provided three assists.

Of course, it probably would not be fair to drop Mudryk after his display, while Noni Madueke also deserves a start after proving to be Chelsea’s match-winner last night.

With that in mind, a 4-2-3-1 with Mudryk, Palmer and Madueke all playing behind Nkunku could be the way to go.

If Chelsea did not need Palmer, who cost the Blues £45m in total (Evening Standard), to beat Palace, then they could probably survive without him for the trip to Kenilworth Road. Again, though, the England international has been one of Pochettino’s top performers this term. You would expect him to return to his first XI.

It is more a matter of Pochettino finding a way to get him into the same side as Mudryk and Madueke, who did well at Stamford Bridge yesterday in the absence of Palmer and Sterling.