Paul Merson believes that Cole Palmer's form at Chelsea has dipped due to the absence of one of the club's best performers this season.

Palmer missed two straightforward one-on-one chances, seeing one saved by Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and the other miss the target. They were two attempts amid seven shots in total, Palmer’s highest tally of the season, but his efforts to score were in vain.

Cole Palmer has moved to ease concerns over his bizarre loss of form, telling Chelsea fans: “Don’t worry - I’ll be back”. The Blues returned to winning ways with a 4-0 thrashing of Southampton on Tuesday night, with Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill and Marc Cucurella all on the scoresheet.

Cole Palmer has gone seven games without scoring a goal, so what's wrong with Chelsea's best and most reliable player?

Chelsea's poor run of results came to an end against Southampton, but there are fears around the recent performances of young magician Cole Palmer, who's struggled personally

Like Chelsea, it appears that Palmer is just going through a rough time. A slight change in system, partly due to injuries hasn’t helped. And the boy is just short of confidence. As they say, he just needs once to bounce in off him and he might be on the up again.

Chelsea wasn't so reliant on Cole Palmer this time. On a frustrating evening for the England star, his Chelsea teammates stepped up — as demanded by their manager — to share the goals in a 4-0 thrashing of last-place Southampton in the Premier League on Tuesday.

Enzo Maresca lifted the lid on his chat with Cole Palmer after Chelsea returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Southampton. Chelsea have experienced a drastic dip in form over the winter period and entered tonight’s Stamford Bridge contest on the back of three straight defeats in all competitions.

Cole Palmer’s career at Chelsea so far has basically been a case of him overperforming in every possible way.Every shot has gone in, every pass has come off, it’s been magical.  But regression