Balance, pace and a wicked left foot
Palmer scored his first goal since January and earned Chelsea a massive three points
On occasions such as this, with summer in the air and the opposition in exhibition mode, you wonder if Cole Palmer might be the next Lamine Yamal.
Or, more sensibly, is Yamal the next Palmer, who is certainly a better comparison for the 17-year-old Barcelona phenom than Lionel Messi.
That Palmer, aged 22, is beginning to shape the game’s future at the same time as Yamal, is a consequence of the riches available to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, where young Cole could not force his way past the best money could buy.
The rise of Yamal flips the debate from a lack of opportunity for young talent at big clubs to the risk of overplaying teenagers at an early age.
On Wednesday Yamal became the youngest to feature in 100 competitive games for Barcelona, decorating the occasion with yet another champagne goal.
Cole Palmer slots it in from the spot 🥶 pic.twitter.com/AYDSzEasdA
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 4, 2025
The question is what might be left of his muscular-skeletal kit in a decade, should he be deployed at the same rate?
Palmer played just 41 competitive games for City before leaving for Chelsea two seasons ago.
He moaned like hell about his shifts on the bench, but he is perhaps reaping the benefits now.
Either way, the pair are blessed with balance and pace and left feet that could thread a needle.
Palmer’s ball to Pedro Neto set up Enzo Fernandez inside three minutes, and his ransacking of Konstantinos Tsimikas after Curtis Jones had slipped, cracked the Liverpool defence wide open for the second.
You don’t need to ask who slotted Chelsea’s third from the spot in the fifth minute of added time (his first since January).
Your next read
These were not the only embellishments.
His ability to collect the ball in deep positions and drive into space had Liverpool in a constant state of terror.
Like Yamal, he is the more dangerous for his roving eye, picking up positions across the front line, and either picking the perfectly weighted pass, or going straight for goal.
Cautious Gareth Southgate did not trust him enough at the Euros, as opposed to Spain, who built their team around Yamal and Nico Williams on either wing and let them go.
Enzo Maresca has had a mixed campaign in his first year at Chelsea after a promising start.
Palmer in this form, and a compliant Liverpool, proved the answer to his dreams, taking Chelsea level with Newcastle United and three points clear of Nottingham Forest in the race for fifth.
