Even though Cole Palmer won’t feature in Chelsea’s upcoming trip to Tottenham, he’s still making his presence known beforehand.
Chelsea travel across London to face Spurs on Saturday evening, which is usually one of the most entertaining games in any Premier League campaign.
Ahead of the league showdown, Spurs head coach Thomas Frank has praised Chelsea and opposite number Enzo Maresca, but they will clash on the sidelines this weekend.
The Blues go into the fixture desperately needing three points because they’ve already lost three of their opening nine league matches this season. Therefore, a positive sign is that they’ve won their previous four consecutive meetings with Spurs.
Cole Palmer uploads cheeky post
On Friday afternoon, Cole Palmer cranked up the excitement before tomorrow’s London derby.
The Chelsea playmaker uploaded a cheeky post on his Instagram story with a picture of him scoring a Panenka penalty against Spurs from last season. He included a laughing emoji as part of the message, too.
Last season, Chelsea recorded a dramatic 4-3 victory over Spurs, which was their most recent visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Blues star Palmer, 23, lit up the December clash by scoring two penalty kicks, including the Panenka, to ultimately clinch the win.
Palmer is sidelined through injury until the end of November, so it’s agonising that he can’t play in the latest instalment of this fixture.
Although Chelsea’s results have been steady without him, his knack of turning up in the crunch games could be a huge miss.
Estevao Willian can bring the Cole Palmer magic
If Chelsea are looking for a match-winner at Spurs, 18-year-old wonderkid Estevao Willian could be just that. Of course, he’ll need Maresca to put his faith in him in such an important contest.
The teenage attacker has looked so composed during his first few months at Stamford Bridge, making the transition from Brazilian football to English football look quite easy.
Estevao has already produced some real magic in Chelsea colours, including a late winner against Liverpool earlier in October, but he’s still not a nailed-on starter. In fact, he’s only started four Premier League games so far this season.
Based on what we’ve seen, Estevao is more than ready to be in the XI against Spurs and make the difference.