Cole Palmer is set to miss Chelsea’s match against Arsenal next week, after suffering a freak injury in an accident at home.
Chelsea star Cole Palmer has spent much of the season so far on the sidelines with a groin injury, initially missing a couple of weeks in August, before reinjuring himself shortly after returning to action.
Chelsea were more careful the second time around, giving Palmer two months to fully recover. But just as he closed in on a comeback, the 23-year-old picked up a new injury in an accident at home.
Enzo Maresca has confirmed that the player stubbed his toe at home and ended up fracturing it, and he’s now expected to miss Chelsea’s game against Arsenal next weekend.
“He is probably not available for Saturday for sure, Barcelona for sure or Arsenal for sure,” the Chelsea manager told the media on Friday.
“Unfortunately, he had an accident at home where he hit his toe. It is nothing important, but he won’t be back in the next week.”
This will be the third Arsenal match Palmer has missed in unusual circumstances over the last couple of years, having sat out of Chelsea’s 5-0 defeat in April 2024 with a cold, before missing their 1-0 defeat in March 2025 with a brief hamstring injury.
The Arsenal game was actually the sole club match Palmer missed with that hamstring injury, and it was the only Premier League fixture he didn’t feature in all season long.
When available, Palmer is obviously one of Chelsea’s key players, scoring 18 goals in 2024/25, assisting another 14, and scoring twice in his very limited minutes on the pitch this campaign. But once again, it seems he’ll be out against Arsenal.