Author: cimi

Watching Chelsea play a competent side without Cole Palmer isn’t an experience any football fan should be subject to.

The Manchester City academy graduate kept Mauricio Pochettino afloat during his sole season in charge, although the Argentine deserves plenty of credit for platforming Palmer to shine. The Englishman was also continuing to weave his magic wand at the start of Enzo Maresca’s tenure.

However, the instinctive playmaker and inevitable contributor has hit a bump in the road to kick off 2025. The opening months of the calendar year have been tough for Palmer, whose malaise was made official when he missed his first penalty at senior level against Leicester City.

The absence of Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke combined with Maresca’s rather robotic principles have contributed to Palmer’s drop-off, but their showing at the Emirates on Sunday proved Chelsea to be nothing short of unwatchable in his absence.

Palmer was out of a Blues’ Premier League starting XI for the first time since May 2024 due to injury, and here’s the latest regarding his setback.

Chelsea boss Maresca confirmed on Sunday that Palmer was missing due to a muscle injury he sustained in training the day before.

“His injury was from [Saturday’s] session, it’s a muscular problem,” the Italian said. “He needs a scan, and it is planned for [Monday] morning. I hope he can be back for our next game, but we need to wait for a scan.”

The March international break thus arrives at a timely moment for Chelsea, who can ill afford to be without their star playmaker for a significant stretch of time. The Blues won’t play again until April, and Palmer has already withdrawn from the England squad having initally been selected by Thomas Tuchel.

Morgan Gibbs-White has been called up as his replacement.

The extent of Palmer’s muscle injury won’t be known until the results of Monday’s scan are revealed. Maresca seemed hopeful that the Englishman had avoided a major issue, with an immediate return after the international break on the cards.

The Chelsea boss suggested that time off will do Palmer good after a run of ten appearances in all competitions without a goal contribution.

“We don’t wish players injury, but probably in Cole’s case in this moment it will give him some rest, physically and mentally, it could be good,” Maresca said.

Palmer has been involved in 20 of Chelsea’s 53 Premier League goals this season, and the Blues desperately need him to return to his most potent form once he recovers from injury. They sit fourth in the table with nine games to go, with the top five set to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Spurs visit Stamford Bridge after an FA Cup weekend on 3 April before Brentford welcome Maresca’s side to the Gtech three days later. Chelsea’s progression into the Conference League quarter-finals means April is a hectic one with seven games arriving.

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Michail Antonio has vowed to make a return to high-level football as he continues to recover from December’s horrific car crash which left him with a serious leg break.

Antonio, who turns 35 later this month, had to be taken to hospital after the gruesome crash, which kept him hospitalised over Christmas before he was discharged to continue his recovery. Unsurprisingly, he will not return for West Ham United this season.

Sitting down with BBC Sport for the first interview since the accident, Antonio admitted he is determined not to bid farewell to his playing career.

“I shattered my femur bone in four different places,” he explained. “I had one single keyhole surgery. They put a pole in my thigh with four bolts, so screws and bolts to knit it back together.

“My first surgeon said he didn’t want me to put any weight on my leg for three months, which is around about now, and you can see that I am walking. We got a second specialist who said I needed to start putting weight on it, increasing from 10% up to 100% within three weeks.

“But I kept my crutches for a further two weeks. Overall, they say it will be between six to 12 months before my leg starts healing properly.

“100%. I will play again. That’s what I am focused on and why I am working six days a week. I’ve always been positive from this situation. It’s a horrendous accident, and it’s a massive injury.

“It’s the biggest injury I’ve ever had in my career. But the fact that I’m already two to three months ahead of where I should be, I know that I’ll play again, and I know that once I’m playing the game I’ll get the sharpness back.

“I was one of the quickest at West Ham. So my body wasn’t the body of a 34-year-old before I had the accident anyway. I can still be sharp and still do the business.

“People have always doubted me. My mental strength is something that I’ve always believed in and this is just another setback, and it is not going to stop me.”

Reflecting on the severity of the accident, Antonio admitted only truly understanding the full extent when he was taken to see what remained of his car weeks later.

“My leg was completely shattered and they got me out and put a splint on it by the side of the car,” Antonio continued.

“Everyone believed I got an air ambulance out, but the helicopter couldn’t get off the ground because of the storm, so I was driven to the hospital.

“[Seeing the wreckage] gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. It just made me realise how close I was to dying. I had seen the pictures but it was ten times worse in person. The car was an absolute mess. It was difficult for me.”

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Rasmus Hojlund has admitted his own individual form has simply not been good enough this season after ending a run of 21 games without a goal for Manchester United.

Hojlund found the back of the net in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City, having endured a run of over 22 hours of action without scoring, to finally net his third Premier League goal of the campaign.

While many have moved to defend Hojlund by arguing the young and raw Dane has not received adequate support from those around him – a point which undoubtedly has some worth – Hojlund himself conceded he has fallen short of the requirements of United’s leading striker.

“I think it comes down to my performances as well,” he said. “I think obviously I’ve not been on top of my game as I wanted to and we’re still adapting to a new system and some new positions.

“But I think I’ve been growing into it lately and starting to look a bit better. But I’m just happy to get on the scoresheet and I’m sure they will come more now. I’m happy, but it’s not all about goals. I’m obviously very happy to get my goal and it gives me a lot of confidence. I think we’re starting to get a bit more of a connection between myself and the players, then starting to understand what my qualities are even more and playing to them as well.

“I’m developing and starting to understand their qualities as well, and that’s what the manager wants. He wants us to play to our strengths and now we’re starting to find each other even better.

“He also wants me to stretch the pitch. I think that’s quite obvious, and to get me into the channels and keep keeping the centre-backs occupied. That’s what I’m trying to do. I think I’ve got a good amount of speed and that’s what I’m here for.”

Hojlund concluded by admitting his determination to use this moment as a platform to reignite his goalscoring touch.

“I see it as a good step on the way, but I just want to keep on improving and keep being better,” he confessed. “I know I’m not the finished article, but I just want to keep going and keep becoming even better. I’m sure I’ll get even better and score even more goals if I just focus on that.”

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Tottenham Hotspur are not expected to keep Timo Werner into a third season following a poor 2024/25 campaign that is yet to yield a single Premier League goal.

Werner, having previously been labelled a flop during a disappointing spell at Chelsea, initially joined Spurs on loan midway through last season. That short-term deal was then extended into a full season-long loan in the summer ahead of this campaign.

But the Germany international, who rose to prominence by averaging just shy of 24 goals per season over four years at RB Leipzig, has failed to thrive in a struggling Spurs side.

Werner has started just four Premier League games this season and has played only eight minutes of football since suffering a hamstring injury in January.

Spurs hold a low-priced option to make Werner a permanent recruit, but Sky Sport Germany’s Florian Plettenberg has revealed that the club are not intending to pay the €12m (£10m).

That means Werner, now 29, will return to Leipzig at the end of the season.

The options ahead are that he could stay at Leipzig or move on. The former route is expected to depend on who is in charge next season. Poor form since the end of October – it’s just five wins from the last 18 league games – could bring a change from current boss Marco Rose.

According to Plettenberg, Werner is “not inclined” to move within the Bundesliga. But there are “concrete inquiries” from un-named Premier League clubs and those in Major League Soccer.

Another English side taking on the forward would be a sizeable gamble after he has now failed to make the desired impact at two different clubs. Werner’s total league goal output since he plundered 28 for Leipzig in the Bundesliga in 2019/20 is just 23.

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Chelsea’s support for manager Enzo Maresca remains unwavering despite Sunday’s disappointing defeat to Arsenal, a report has revealed.

Having been viewed as outside title contenders in December, a miserable run of form has left Chelsea battling for a spot in the Premier League’s top four. Defeat at the hands of Arsenal leaves the Blues fourth in the standings but having played one game more than Carabao Cup winners Newcastle United, who are just two points behind.

While defeat away at Arsenal was a predictable result for Maresca’s out-of-form side, fan frustration continued to mount after a bitterly disappointing performance which managed to combine 59% possession with expected goals of just 0.36 – the lowest of any game of Maresca’s reign to date. Mikel Arteta’s claims that Chelsea are the best attacking team in the division have only heightened tensions among a fanbase which does not feel the same.

Chelsea have now won just four of their last 13 Premier League games – those victories coming against sides currently occupying 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th in the standings – but BBC Sport state the ownership remains committed to Maresca.

It is stressed that, unlike last season with Mauricio Pochettino, there is not a sense of divide behind the scenes or any growing concerns about the club’s direction, with those responsible for making the big decisions all convinced Maresca is the right man for the job.

Such optimism was recently shared by co-owner Jonathan Goldstein who, back in February, insisted Maresca would finish the season in charge without a shadow of a doubt.

Club officials believe the early-season form shown under Maresca is a better example of this team’s ability, not least because of the impact injuries to Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke have had.

Maresca argued losing two of his three top scorers has made a “huge difference” as he revealed Cole Palmer, the team’s leading marksman, is set for his own spell on the sidelines.

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