As Mauricio Pochettino gets his Chelsea team ready to play Arsenal in the Premier League tonight, he may be missing important player Cole Palmer.

Chelsea is vying for a Europa League berth, and they would be well-positioned to do it if they defeat Arsenal tonight in their current match. However, Arsenal will undoubtedly not be taken lightly; they are vying for the league championship and will do every effort to win all three points at home this evening.

Chelsea has a good chance to spoil their plans and could really put a stop to them, but if they do, they’ll likely need to do it without Cole Palmer.

The attacker did not practice yesterday, thus it appears that he may be sick and miss tonight’s game. Palmer is currently a serious question to even make the team, as Pochettino confirmed yesterday.

The Blues supporters are afraid of Chelsea without Palmer since he has established himself as the team’s main man, talisman, and primary provider of goals and assists.

However, manager Pochettino is adamant that this is his players’ opportunity to demonstrate that they are Chelsea Football Club and not Cole Palmer Football Club! He argues they have an opportunity to establish a point.

During Arsenal’s pre-match press conference yesterday, Pochettino made the following embargoed statement: “It is a good challenge if [Cole] Palmer is not available tomorrow.” I would be inspired to go there tomorrow and demonstrate that this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club, if I were [his teammates].

He is also present here. Whether on purpose or not, Chelsea’s reliance on Palmer has been evident this season. They must demonstrate that they can function without him and, more crucially, that they can still achieve their objectives.