Chelsea starlet needs knee scan to confirm “initial hopes” about potential injury

Chelsea’s draw with Manchester United yesterday started very dull, with a poor first half from both sides.

The second half at least offered more excitement, albeit still without much quality. There were two goals, plus a late flashpoint when Lisandro Martinez was skinned by Cole Palmer and responded by lashing out a boot which scathed across the Chelsea player’s knee.

It probably should have been a red card – Enzo Maresca thought so – but Martinez got away with it, even after a VAR check.

It looked like Palmer had escaped serious injury, but Matt Law’s update claims the forward has to go for a scan this week:

“Chelsea’s initial hope was that Palmer’s soreness would settle down and that he had suffered no serious damage that would rule him out of the next Premier League game against Arsenal,” Law wrote in the Telegraph today.

“But Chelsea are expected to scan Palmer to be sure of the extent of the injury and receive formal confirmation that he did indeed suffer no more than a lucky escape.”

Palmer gets a week to rest ahead of game where he has to perform

Leaving Palmer out of the Conference League squad was a no brainer, let’s face it. It’s not like he was ever likely to get called up to play teams like Noah, but leaving him out of the group entirely means he can be focused on rest and recovery entirely, without even having to worry about a call up.

The team’s creative star wasn’t able to really get into gear or get into dangerous positions at Old Trafford, and we’ll need him to get back to his best against Arsenal at the weekend if we want to get a much needed good result against a top side.