Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Cole Palmer is likely to be forced out of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia next week, with the Chelsea forward poised to have a scan on a muscular injury that caused him to miss the 1-0 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday.
Mikel Merino’s clever header from a corner ended Arsenal’s four-match wait for a Premier League victory as they reduced Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to 12 points.
Chelsea remain in fourth spot but have played a game more than Newcastle in sixth and have not won away from home in the Premier League since the start of December. They were badly lacking in creativity in Palmer’s absence with Maresca hoping that he could be back for their next game against Tottenham on 3 April.
Asked whether he is expected to link up with Thomas Tuchel’s squad this week, the Chelsea manager said: “I don’t think so. We never wish for players to get injured but in Cole’s case in this moment it will give him some rest physically and mentally so it could be good. He needs a scan and it is planned for Monday.”
Maresca also acknowledged that his side are struggling for goals without Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke, who could also both be back to face Spurs. “It’s a huge difference,” he said. “If you think that the three players with the most goals for us, not one of them was inside the pitch today. It’s normal that offensively we can struggle a little bit.”
The Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, saw his side waste a number of chances to make it a more convincing win but was surprisingly full of praise for Chelsea, who he described as “the best attacking team in the league in open play”.
“By a mile – I mean the stats say it and everything that I’ve seen, say it,” he said. “They can open you up, they can run in transition, they have individual quality, any player in the defensive line can throw you in behind, they can combine on both sides, on weak sides and they are missing some big players as well at the moment.”
