ไทย
English
中國人
Due to the rule that red-card bans carry over across domestic competitions, Cole Palmer will serve his one-match suspension in Chelsea's midweek Carabao Cup fixture against Liverpool, meaning he won't miss a single Premier League match.
Chelsea face Manchester United next Saturday and desperately need a strong response following this weekend's poor defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. While Palmer picked up the first red card of his senior career, he was far from Chelsea's worst player in a lifeless 2–0 loss to their bitter London rivals.
Backup goalkeeper Mike Penders gifted the visitors the opener with a calamitous own goal in the 77th minute, shortly before Palmer received his second, completely needless, yellow card. Chelsea's creative hub had already been booked for colliding with Mateus Fernandes—a challenge that could have earned a straight red on another occasion—making his decision to tread on Conor Gallagher's ankle all the more reckless.
The quirk of the fixture schedule and FA regulations has saved Palmer from any Premier League suspension, but he will miss Chelsea's next outing: a tough trip to Anfield.
Xabi Alonso will face his childhood friend and former youth team peer when Andoni Iraola's Liverpool host the fourth-round Carabao Cup tie on Wednesday evening. Chelsea haven't won at Anfield with supporters present since 2018, when Eden Hazard led a Blues side under Maurizio Sarri to a Carabao Cup third-round victory. Unfortunately for Alonso, Chelsea's No. 10 won't be available for selection this week.
Chelsea's Fixtures
Palmer Breaks Silence on Red Card
Palmer turned to social media the morning after the defeat to seek forgiveness from Chelsea supporters who are unaccustomed to losing against Spurs. "Not good enough by me," he posted on Instagram. "Live n learn. Apologies. On to the next."
Alonso, who became the first Chelsea manager since Antonio Conte to lose a home match to Tottenham, chose not to pile pressure on his playmaker. "I need to review the incident to speak with Cole, but it is definitely one to learn from going forward," the manager said immediately after the game.
"I think that Cole, when he is focused on the game, when he is enjoying, and today after the 1–0, it is a moment to keep calm, a moment to keep mature and for everyone."
This was Chelsea's 11th red card across all competitions since the beginning of last season, excluding one shown to former manager Enzo Maresca. Alonso had already flagged poor discipline as something requiring attention before Palmer's composure cracked.
"I think that if you are focused on what you have to do, you are prepared for what's going on," Alonso had cautioned. "Normally you don't make that many mistakes and you don't overreact to certain situations. For me, this is a fundamental part of the game: to have that emotional control, to deal with all this. The momentum is coming, [but] we keep calm, I don't lose my head, and I don't get stupid yellow cards, make stupid penalties. You need to prepare for football to have better control of that."