Cole Palmer has the 'X issue' to take Chelsea to the Premier League title, says Paul Merson | Soccer information

Cole Palmer has the “X issue” to steer Chelsea to a Premier League title, says Paul Merson, whereas Jamie Carragher believes he might develop into Chelsea's “best ever”.

Chelsea fought again from a two-goal result in win 4-3 at London rival Tottenham to slender the hole with Premier League leaders Liverpool to 4 factors.

Palmer stored his cool at key moments to attain twice from the penalty spot and have become the primary participant in Premier League historical past to attain 12 consecutive penalties.

The England star additionally supplied an help for Enzo Fernandez, that means no participant within the Premier League has recorded extra targets because the begin of final season than Palmer's tally of fifty.

“He’s phenomenal,” Merson mentioned.

“Nobody actually knew a lot about him when he got here from Man Metropolis, so it was a free throw for him. However within the final seven months he’s now the large boy.

“The article of the sport for the opposition is to cease Cole Palmer. Groups attempt to cease him – and so they can't. That exhibits how good he’s. He's too good. He at all times has “Everybody wants an X-factor to win a Premier League title and Chelsea have it.”

Chelsea at the moment are the bookmakers' third favourite to win the Premier League and are smaller within the betting than Manchester Metropolis. Enzo Maresca put his aspect forward of the place many predicted Chelsea could be this season, because the win in opposition to Spurs was their 14th win of their final 20 Premier League conferences.

Carra: Palmer on the identical stage as Hazard

Palmer's affect was big in getting Chelsea to problem for the highest, in line with Carragher.

He mentioned: “When you concentrate on gifted Chelsea gamers like Gianfranco Zola and Eden Hazard, I feel Palmer has achieved extra in 18 months than Zola and Zola is likely one of the best Chelsea gamers of all time.

“He’s on the identical stage as Hazard and it occurred over 4 or 5 years.

“If he leads Chelsea to a title he’ll develop into one of many best gamers of all time if he retains doing what he’s doing. He’s a particular participant.

“This Chelsea group will not be an underdog story. This can be a group that has spent £1.2 billion however what they’re doing this season is one thing completely surprising. This membership is within the good place for a title problem.”

Maresca: Palmer will not be a traditional participant

Chelsea head coach Maresca understands Palmer's expertise and potential higher than most, having coached the striker as he got here by means of the ranks at his former membership Manchester Metropolis.

Requested after the win over Spurs if he thought Palmer might now be thought of the very best participant within the Premier League, Maresca replied: “Cole belongs to that type of participant, they don’t seem to be gamers regular, they’re excessive stage gamers.

“And the very best gamers, they do issues that ordinary gamers do or we are saying 'how can he try this?', it's as a result of he's Cole, as a result of he's the very best. We are able to count on that from Cole.

“I had Cole for a 12 months 4 years in the past, so I've identified him ever since. When he was with me on the under-23s he was in a means, and now he's precisely the identical man. Charming, humble, no unusual issues and that's the very best factor for younger gamers.

When requested what he considered Palmer's “Panenka” shot on objective, Maresca replied: “The second penalty… he's chilly!”