Cole Palmer should be in his early years as an expert footballer, however he has already performed some towards some prime groups with each Man Metropolis and Chelsea.
Palmer’s performances since arriving at Chelsea from Man Metropolis have been distinctive.
Whereas he confirmed promise as a teenager below Pep Guardiola, eyebrows had been raised when, in 2023, Chelsea paid £40 million for the attacking midfielder as a 21-year-old.
Not like a lot of the Londoners’ different big-money transfers, this one has paid off and Palmer is now thought of among the best gamers within the Premier League, having scored 26 targets final season and 7 already this time round.
Quickfire questions with Cole Palmer! ?? pic.twitter.com/XUoFY0vSJl
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 29, 2024
Regardless of his brilliance during the last 12 months, Palmer has but to attain or help in his 5 video games towards Liverpool and has misplaced three from three as a Chelsea participant.
This has largely been all the way down to Virgil van Dijk, whom Palmer named with out hesitation because the hardest opponent he has confronted in his profession when answering quickfire questions for Chelsea.
Van Dijk and Palmer’s conferences
The 2 gamers have come up towards one another in 5 complete matches, together with the final 10 minutes of England’s Euro 2024 semi-final towards the Netherlands, by which Palmer got here off the bench to set Ollie Watkins up for the winner.
The one different time Palmer has emerged on the successful facet was when he performed the ultimate minute of a 4-1 Man Metropolis win in April 2023.
Van Dijk has had by far the higher of the pair’s encounters, therefore Palmer’s declare concerning the Dutchman being the very best he has confronted.
In 2024, Liverpool beat Chelsea thrice, with Van Dijk and Palmer each beginning all three.
First got here the Reds’ 4-1 Anfield win, memorable for Conor Bradley‘s nice first objective as a Pink.
Subsequent was the spotlight of Liverpool’s 12 months, because the Reds overcame the chances to beat Chelsea within the League Cup remaining, Van Dijk scoring the winner with simply two minutes left of additional time.
It was an actual captain’s efficiency from the Dutchman that day as he led a really inexperienced Liverpool facet to victory at Wembley.
Most lately, the pair met once more as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield within the league below Arne Slot, a recreation by which Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate stood agency on the again regardless of the guests discovering methods to assault Liverpool’s backline.
