Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca, has confirmed that up to eight players are likely to miss the club’s Premier League clash with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters at Cobham on Friday morning (via football.london), Maresca said, “Cole is still out. We have Trev [Chalobah] suspended. Seven or eight players out for tomorrow’s game.”
Palmer, 23, was forced to leave the field during the first half of Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United after picking up a groin injury.
The England international has missed the last three games as he works to regain full fitness.
When asked for an update on Palmer’s recovery, Maresca kept it brief: “I don’t have any update at the moment. We have a meeting this week.”
With Palmer unavailable, Maresca could turn to teenage sensation Estevao Willian. On whether Willian might play in a central role, the manager explained, “We consider all of our players to give them minutes in all positions.
“Estevao reminds me a lot of Cole when Cole was with me in the under-23s at [Manchester] City. Cole’s path has been similar to Estevao’s path in terms of starting wide as a winger and then slowly you can move inside. In the Premier League, if you want to play in the middle, you need to be physically prepared.”
Liverpool arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of consecutive defeats: 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the Premier League and 1-0 to Galatasaray in the Champions League.
On whether the timing is favorable for Chelsea, Maresca said, “I don’t think now it is better to play Liverpool.
“It is always a tough game, always a big team. The way they are doing this season is in any case, fantastic, especially after the [Diogo] Jota tragedy. I lived the exact same when I was a player 20 years ago, it is not easy for the players or manager.
“You have to be very strong. This is the reason why for me they are doing, not good, but better than good because dealing with a problem like this is not easy.”
Last season, Chelsea claimed a 3-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge but lost 2-1 at Anfield. Maresca added: “Every game is different.
“We are going to try and prepare the game in the best way possible. Even if they have dropped points, they have shown the reason why they won the Premier League.”
