Analysis: Why has Cole Palmer gone cold?

Chelsea’s 4-0 triumph against Southampton at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night was a great display of their attacking prowess, with Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku each grabbing a goal and an assist on the night.

However, it was yet another match that Cole Palmer failed to get involved among the goals.

In fact, it was the sixth consecutive Matchweek in which the 22-year-old has neither scored or assisted. This run has left him stuck on 14 goals and six assists, now in 27 appearances – he has started every Premier League match for Chelsea this season.

After a ground-breaking debut campaign with the Blues, when he scored 22 goals and assisted 11 in the Premier League, Palmer is experiencing a blip for the first time in his fledgling career.

So what’s wrong and how can he get back on track?

Palmer’s dip in form

The England international found the back of the net in three of the five matches Enzo Maresca’s side failed to win from 22 December to 14 January. So even when the team hasn’t always been at its best, Palmer has delivered.

Since that five-match winless run, Chelsea have lost three and won three in the league, with Palmer blanking across all of them. In that run of six matches without a goal contribution, he has had 23 shots without scoring and has created nine chances which haven’t been converted by his team-mates.

In fact, since he last scored or assisted in the league, the Chelsea star is the only player in the league to have more than 25 shots and chances created without a goal or assist. The effort is clearly there, so what is the problem?

What’s changed?

Palmer’s 14 strikes this season have come from an Expected Goals (xG) tally of 12.91, translating to about 0.42 non-penalty xG per 90 minutes. That figure comes as a result of his extremely healthy shot volume across the season, averaging more than three shots per 90 from open play. Furthermore, he has averaged 1.38 shots on target per 90.

Palmer shooting stats before/after 15 Jan