FPL notes: Why Palmer was subbed off, Cucurella + Maresca on his ‘keepers

Cole Palmer (£11.0m) missed his first Chelsea penalty on Sunday and, as a result, extended his Premier League goal drought to seven games.

Assessing the Blues’ narrow 1-0 win from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, it’s our latest Scout Notes.

• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 28 round-up: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
• EXPLORE: All the Opta player and team stats from Chelsea 1-0 Leicester

WHY PALMER WAS SUBBED OFF

Cole Palmer’s perfect Premier League record from the penalty spot came to an end on Sunday, as Mads Hermansen (£4.4m) guessed the right way and tipped his effort round the post.

Running low on confidence, it means Palmer has not scored in any of his last seven Premier League games, his longest drought since joining Chelsea in 2023.

He certainly looked up for it in the early stages at Stamford Bridge, with four shots inside the first half an hour, but his level dropped after and, in a further blow, he was subbed off on 72 minutes.

Enzo Maresca later revealed Palmer’s involvement had been in doubt after he missed training with a fever.

“Cole, yesterday, didn’t train and during the night, he didn’t feel well. The reason why he didn’t train yesterday is because he didn’t feel well. This morning, he woke up and he asked me, ‘I want to be on the pitch because I want to help this team, this club to play Champions League’.

“So, in the last two days, he was completely out. Fever, is it something I can say in English? Diarrhoea. In the last 48 hours, he didn’t train with the fever and this bad feeling. This morning, he asked to play the game and this shows how these players want to bring the club where it belongs to.” – Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer

With another five shots on Sunday, Palmer has now racked up 28 goal attempts in the last seven Gameweeks, the joint-most of any player.

He’s still creating opportunities, too, but his play at times looks forced, and with a trip to Arsenal up next, 80,000 Fantasy managers have already sold him this Gameweek.

CUCURELLA SCORES AGAIN

The third most-bought defender for Gameweek 28, Marc Cucurella (£5.2m), scored the winner in west London, driving a great low strike into the bottom corner.

The Spaniard has now found the net four times in his last 12 matches, the best goalscoring return of his career.

“Marc has something that is difficult to find. He is clever and is intelligent. He scored two goals against Wolves and Brentford and he is probably the smallest one in the team and this showed you how intelligent he is because he is in the right position. He is playing like an attacking midfielder and is doing fantastic. He has scored four or five goals with us.” – Enzo Maresca on Marc Cucurella

On Sunday, Cucurella was given a more conventional full-back role, pushing high on the left rather than inverting into midfield.

Maresca later explained it was in response to Leicester City’s back five formation.

“The plan was Marc Cucurella playing next to Moi Caicedo as a midfielder, so three at the back with Cucu next to Moi. But when we saw them with a five, we needed to attack with six. So Cucu was higher on the left and Christo [Nkunku] came into the pocket.

“The pressing was also completely different because you need to change that, but the way the players adapted was top. Leicester came here to surprise us, like Copenhagen [on Thursday night in the Conference League], but the players have been so good at adapting to that.” – Enzo Maresca

Chelsea were dominant against Leicester but, bar Cucurella’s strike, lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. Their decision-making was particularly poor, with too many players looking to score rather than pass.

Pedro Neto (£6.3m) celebrated his 25th Birthday with another start up front, but like Chelsea’s other attackers, blanked.

Enzo Fernandez (£4.7m) did at least supply the assist for Cucurella’s goal, his third attacking return in five matches.

MARESCA ON HIS GOALKEEPERS

Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) was a surprise starter for Chelsea on Sunday, keeping his place in goal after featuring against Copenhagen in the UEFA Conference League.

Returning to Chelsea’s starting XI for the first time since Gameweek 23, he repaid his manager’s faith with a clean sheet, despite a couple of nervy moments in the first half.

Discussing his goalkeepers, Maresca said:

“The idea is not to change ‘keeper every game. But we change in the past because I was thinking to give Robert some rest. Today, Robert did well. The last game at home in the Premier League, we won and kept a clean sheet with Filip Jorgensen, today happened the same with Robert and Robert did well. So now we have a game on Thursday which is an important game and we will see.” – Enzo Maresca

“We have two goalkeepers. The idea is not to change them. We changed in the past but hopefully not in the future.” – Enzo Maresca

Elsewhere, Wesley Fofana (£4.3m) made his first appearance since December, replacing the injured Malo Gusto (£4.9m) at right-back, while Reece James (£4.8m) missed out with a fever.

FOXES FRUSTRATION

For the first time under Ruud van Nistelrooy, Leicester used a back-five system, with Conor Coady (£4.0m), Luke Thomas (£3.9m) and Patson Daka (£4.8m) coming into the starting XI.

The new approach largely worked from a defensive perspective, with the Foxes frustrating their hosts for large periods, but they attempted just three shots, their lowest total in a single match in the Premier League this season.

In fact, the Foxes have now failed to score in each of their last five league matches.

They are also without a clean sheet in 21 games.

“The lads deserved more. The performance today was really good, with a lot of heart and a lot of spirit. A new system, on and off the ball, with some excellent performances within that. To name one, Luke Thomas, how well he played today in that role.

“It was to create more defensive stability, with the amount of goals against a worry. Also, with more people in and around Jamie [Vardy] up front to give him that support. I think that also worked well. Mads [Hermansen] saved a great penalty and then there was the ball on the crossbar and then the rebound that just didn’t fall for Jamie.

“It can change the momentum for us. The situation that we’re in, we’re not scoring, but the team is spirited and that’s what they showed today.” – Ruud van Nistelrooy

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