Chelsea’s emphatic win over West Ham United gets our Gameweek 2 Scout Notes underway – and there’s only one place to start: Cole Palmer (£10.5m).
PALMER INJURY LATEST
Cole Palmer was ruled out of Chelsea’s encounter with West Ham on Friday after sustaining an injury in the warm-up.
The 23-year-old, who had earlier been named in the starting XI, limped off just moments before kick-off.
Shortly after, Enzo Maresca told Sky Sports that Palmer had “felt something”, but emphasised that it was precautionary and they did not want to take any risks with him.
The Italian later revealed Palmer has been playing through a groin problem and will now be assessed.
“Cole in the last four or five days was not 100%. Today he tried in the warm-up, but he felt something, so we preferred not to take any risks and make it worse, and we will see in the next hours if it’s something important or not.
“It’s a groin problem. It’s already the Palace game he was not 100% for, but he has tried to make a big effort for the club, for the team, for the fans, because he is really keen about the team. Tonight, he tried again but it was not very good.” – Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer
NO PALMER, NO PROBLEM
Estevao (£6.5m) quickly took Palmer’s place in the starting XI.
The Brazilian lined up on the right, with Joao Pedro (£7.5m) in the hole, Liam Delap (£6.5m) up front and Pedro Neto (£7.0m) off the left.
Once settled, Chelsea were completely unaffected by Palmer’s absence, as they racked up seven (!) big chances, with five different players getting on the scoresheet.
Above: Chelsea’s xG shot map v West Ham United in Gameweek 2
Dropping into the pockets, Pedro was superb.
He scored once, assisted twice and was easily Chelsea’s best player. Making the most of the space afforded to him by West Ham, he ended the match with three shots and two big chances created.
“Joao, as we’ve said many times, can give us different options. Liam, we know, is a central striker, he can play together with Joao as two strikers, or one striker with Joao moving a little bit around or wide.” – Enzo Maresca on Joao Pedro and Liam Delap both starting
MARESCA ON ESTEVAO
As for Estevao, he took his opportunity, setting up Enzo Fernandez (£6.5m) for a simple tap-in during the first half. He came close to scoring as well when Reece James’ (£5.5m) pinpoint pass put him through.
That said, he did give the ball away for West Ham’s opener.
“We conceded a goal because of him, he lost the ball in the build-up, so he needs to make a mistake to learn, but overall the performance was very good. His reaction to that mistake showed how good he is, and the reason why he is here with us.” – Enzo Maresca on Estevao
Elsewhere, Enzo scored and assisted and got into some very decent positions deep inside the West Ham box, while Malo Gusto (£5.0m) and Marc Cucurella (£6.0m) caused plenty of problems with their out-to-in runs.
Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.5m), meanwhile, was preferred to Josh Acheampong (£4.0m) at the back.
“First of all, we have to say Josh [Acheampong] did very well against Palace, but we already gave games to Josh last year, so we trust Josh 100%. Tosin gives us many things, in terms of experience, managing moments, and for sure, in this kind of game with a big striker up front, Soucek is there, he will help us with the long ball.” – Enzo Maresca on his changes in defence
WEST HAM COLLAPSE
As was the case at Sunderland last week, West Ham were beaten far too easily.
The Hammers have now experienced back-to-back defeats, conceding eight goals in the process, with most of those goal concessions coming from crosses.
Given how open they were on Friday, plus the lack of intensity in and out of possession, it already feels like Graham Potter is under pressure.
Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m) did manage to give the hosts an early lead from El Hadji Malick Diouf’s (£4.5m) pass.
They also had a Niclas Fullkrug (£6.0m) goal disallowed for offside.
However, it’s fair to say Chelsea won’t have an easier match all season, with Mads Hermansen (£4.5m) and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) particularly poor.
It’s also noteworthy that Potter’s three-at-the-back formation only lasted until half-time, with Jean-Clair Todibo (£4.5m) and Fullkrug replaced by Freddie Potts (£4.5m) and Callum Wilson (£6.0m).
Following those changes, Paqueta was deployed on the left, Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m), arguably West Ham’s best player, on the right, and Wilson through the middle.
It resulted in a flurry of chances in the second half, but by that point, Chelsea were already out of sight.
It doesn’t get any easier for West Ham either, with some difficult fixtures on the horizon:
Meanwhile, Nayef Aguerd (£4.5m) was the sole player from either side to earn defensive contribution (DefCon) points on Friday.
“It’s bitterly disappointing, of course, with the results, with the manner of the goals. I thought they were too cheap. I think when you do that, it gives yourself a real challenge in the Premier League, and especially when it’s a team with the talent and the quality that Chelsea have. It was a tough evening for us. I think it probably set the tone, their first goal. Again, too easy, too cheap.” – Graham Potter
