Cole Palmer raises fresh Chelsea injury concern after celebrating chaotic Liverpool win

Cole Palmer might have extended his lengthy injury lay-off in Chelsea’s chaotic celebrations against Liverpool. The Blues downed the reigning Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.

Estevao Willian fired home a stoppage time winner after Moises Caicedo and Cody Gakpo had exchanged strikes. The Brazilian’s goal triggered wild scenes across the stadium, with even boss Enzo Maresca sprinting down the touchline to join in with the celebrations.

Palmer - who is currently sidelined with a groin injury - didn’t quite manage to get out of his seat after the goal but took a full part in the celebrations following the full-time whistle. He was seen speaking with Jorell Hato, with the Dutchman then jumping on Palmer in celebration.

The England man did not take too kindly to that though, as he grimaced and grabbed his groin clearly in pain. Chelsea will certainly hope that Palmer has not done any more damage following the exchange.

Ahead of the clash with Liverpool, boss Enzo Maresca revealed that he would hold further talks on his potential comeback. He said: “I don't have any update at the moment [on Palmer]. We have a meeting this week to see how he is and we will then decide [whether he can return after the international break].”

Palmer, 23, had scored two goals in four outings in all competitions for Chelsea ahead of his injury - that form coming after 18 goals last term. And while there is hope that Palmer could return in a few weeks, one man who won’t be present is Maresca.

The Italian was sent off in the late celebrations which will see him in the stands for the clash with Nottingham Forest after the international break. The dismissal also saw Maresca banned from conducting his post-match press duties.

“He’s OK, he's OK,” Blues coach Willy Caballero said of Maresca when talking in his place. “He was so happy after the game.

“Unfortunately, he cannot be here because of the card, but he was so happy and he wanted me to do the press conference, but also he wanted me to praise the players because of the effort that they've done today.

“We believe that we deserve the victory after the chances that we created and how we played. Thanks to football and thanks for the effort of the players, we scored in the last seconds and we got the three points today.

“I believe it's because not just this week, but a few weeks that we've been holding our emotions because the last couple of games we've been playing well, but we finished a few games with ten players and we couldn't win the game.

“Today was really important, but at the same time we finished with a back four that is not usual, four full-backs. The players did it really well, the players on the bench were ready to go and ready to play. They did a really good effort, they played in different positions.”

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