The Enzo Maresca era is well underway at Stamford Bridge as a 2-0 victory at home to Servette on Thursday night put the Blues in a strong position to secure a Conference League berth.

There were goals for Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke during an improved second half display and Chelsea will head to Geneva next week with a cushion.

Bright sparks undoubtedly manifested the Bridge, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Maresca. There are concerns over the status of Cole Palmer, who entered the fray in the second period, after he ventured down the Stamford Bridge tunnel clutching his hamstring at the end of proceedings.

With a trip to Wolves coming up on Sunday, Palmer’s availability may be a question mark. Here’s the latest on his potential injury and whether Fantasy Premier League managers should be swapping him out of their teams.

It was no surprise that Palmer, the newly-crowned PFA Young Player of the Year following his exploits last season, was the first topic of discussion in Maresca’s post-match press conference.

The Italian, though, provided a positive update: “Cole felt something but he looks fine. Hopefully, it is no problem and he can be available for Sunday’s game [at Wolves].”

While hamstring issues must be treated with caution, Maresca batted off Palmer’s suspected injury as if it was nothing. The Chelsea manager is certainly optimistic that the England international won’t spend any time on the sidelines, meaning he should be ready to go from the outset at Molineux on Sunday.

Maresca could not yet confirm Palmer’s status for the game at Wolves. There’s a chance he misses out if the Italian’s optimism is misguided.

After recording a whopping 35 Premier League goal contributions last season, Palmer started 2024/25 as the FPL’s second most expensive midfielder at £10.5m – behind only Mohamed Salah. Despite this price hike, Palmer has been selected by over 35% of FPL users. He’s a popular asset and any spell on the sidelines would be a distinct inconvenience.

Palmer’s price means that if managers wish to swap him out, they can pretty much afford any alternative midfielder. £10m man Bukayo Saka hit the ground running in Gameweek 1 but has a tough set of fixtures to start the season, so shrewder Palmer alternatives could be Diogo Jota (£7.6m) given he’s currently starting up front for Liverpool, James Maddison (£7.5m) after he impressed at Leicester to begin the season and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.0m), who will continue to play a key role in Brentford’s attack in Ivan Toney’s absence.

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