On October 1, 2023, Chelsea had been in dire straits. They had been sitting in 14th within the Premier League by means of six matchweeks, they usually’d scored simply 5 targets. It was arguably one in every of their darkest moments for the reason that pre-Abramovich period. Nonetheless, it will not final lengthy, as precisely one month earlier, they’d signed a promising however untested attacker from Manchester Metropolis named Cole Palmer for simply 40 million kilos.
Palmer’s 22 targets and 11 assists in that season helped them end sturdy, shedding simply as soon as of their last 15 matches to snag sixth place and a spot within the Convention League. This 12 months, Chelsea are third within the desk by means of 11 matches, they usually have their sights set on one thing significantly better for this season—as does Cole Palmer, who’s at the moment sitting atop the chances leaderboard for this 12 months’s PFA Participant of the 12 months award, at +300 betting odds.
Cole Palmer Affords Nice Worth For PFA Participant of the 12 months
Participant
Group
Odds
Cole Palmer
Chelsea
+300
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
+350
Erling Haaland
Manchester Metropolis
+400
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal
+1,000
Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester Metropolis
+1,600
Final 12 months, Metropolis’s Phil Foden gained the PFA Participant of the 12 months award with six fewer objective involvements than Cole Palmer. Nonetheless, whereas Chelsea barely scraped its approach to a sixth place end, Metropolis gained their fifth PL title in six years underneath Pep Guardiola. Clearly, you may’t simply be a superb participant, it’s a must to play for a superb staff too.
With Chelsea now in a reputable combat for the highest 4 and Champions League locations, an identical season for Palmer this 12 months must be sufficient to take dwelling the {hardware}. Palmer had 33 objective involvements in 33 PL appearances in 2023-2024, and this 12 months, he’s acquired 12 in 11. So not solely is Chelsea taking part in significantly better, however Palmer has someway discovered a approach to construct on his otherworldly breakout efficiency final season. He’s additionally spreading out his contributions, serving to out extra within the buildup with 5 assists to go together with his seven targets.
Nonetheless, whereas he’s at the moment atop the leaderboard, his perch up there may be perilous, to say the least. Three of the opposite 4 gamers within the high 5 have gained the award during the last 4 seasons. The truth is, KDB, Haaland, and Salah mixed to win this award 5 of six occasions from 2018-2023. The betting odds for Palmer, Haaland, and Salah are particularly tight.
So tight, actually, that some on-line sportsbooks would possibly even have Metropolis’s talisman atop their leaderboard somewhat than Palmer. Haaland does have already got 12 targets, so he’s about on tempo with what he did final 12 months, when he misplaced the award to his teammate. If Chelsea can keep within the high 4 and Palmer maintains his present scoring tempo, he must be a terrific worth guess right here. The truth that he’s the one Englishman within the operating (Saka is a methods again) provides him a slight edge too.
May Palmer Win Premier League Golden Boot Too?
Since Erling Haaland joined the Premier League forward of the 2022-2023 season, he has been past dominant in entrance of the web. In that debut 12 months, he scored 36 targets in 35 PL matches. The man in second place had 30. Final 12 months, he regressed a bit, scoring simply 27 league targets. This time, the margin was a tad smaller, as Palmer checked in in 2nd place together with his 22 targets, regardless that his 11 assists gave him extra objective involvements (33) than Haaland (32).
So, the large query is, can Palmer dethrone the mighty manchild they name Erling Haaland and maintain him from successful his third straight Golden Boot? Properly, sportsbooks don’t assume so proper now, they usually’re not flawed.
Haaland has 12 already this 12 months, whereas Palmer has seven and Salah is in there with eight as nicely. Whereas guys like Chris Wooden and Bryan Mbeumo even have eight proper now, we don’t anticipate them to maintain that tempo up, so it looks like the trio from Metropolis, Liverpool, and Chelsea are actually the one ones competing for this award at this level. Nonetheless, after scoring 10 targets within the first 5 matches, Haaland has solely scored two in his final six PL begins, so he may very well be exhibiting his mortality as a goalscorer simply as his staff, Metropolis, are doing the identical as PL champions.
Haaland is at -500 odds to win the Golden Boot, with Salah coming in at +750 (which looks like one of the best guess on the board) and Palmer coming in third at +1,200. Whereas Palmer has a terrific shot at successful the PFA Participant of the 12 months as one of the best participant total, it’s arduous to guess towards the uncooked numbers of Erling Haaland in terms of strictly objective scoring.
