Paul Merson highlights Chelsea’s huge ‘issue’ ahead of their Premier League encounter against Newcastle.

Chelsea will hope for more of the same when they return to Premier League play at Stamford Bridge this weekend against Newcastle United.

The Blues returned to winning ways in the Conference League with a convincing victory over Panathinaikos, with a number of periphery players seizing the opportunity to impress manager Enzo Maresca.

Mykhailo Mudryk thrilled Chelsea fans with his first goal of the season, and Maresca praised Renato Veiga for his performance in an unusual central defensive position.

Joao Felix was the star of the show in front of goal, scoring twice and looking head and shoulders above the rest of the team.

However, the Portugal international has struggled to find minutes as he competes for a place in the team with Cole Palmer, who is now performing better than anyone in England.

Clubs manmarking Cole Palmer is a problem, argues Paul Merson.
Palmer, on the other hand, failed to impress pundits on Sunday against Liverpool, as it was evident their opponents had a well-planned strategy for him.

Paul Merson has stated that Chelsea will have to deal with this issue more frequently, which could become a problem for them.

He told Sportskeeda, “I just hope Chelsea don’t become flat track bullies.” They didn’t win against City or Liverpool. You could say they played well at Anfield last Saturday, but they still lost!

“Cole Palmer never touched the ball during that game. This is the difficulty Chelsea will face now; teams will stop Palmer, and they must find solutions.

Who will step up if Palmer is man marked again?
If Palmer is man-marked again on Sunday, the other attackers will have to stand up and perform.

Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke have both had excellent beginnings to the season, with the former particularly benefiting from a solid rapport with Palmer.

The final offensive position is up for grabs, with Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto, and Mudryk all competing for a Premier League start.

Frank Lampard believes Neto is due for more starts following strong cameos recently, and he registered another assist yesterday night.