Paul Merson knows exactly why Cole Palmer is in bad form but Enzo Maresca can’t actually do anything about it

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Cole Palmer has largely had yet another impressive season at Chelsea.

But the former Manchester City attacker is still a young player, who tend to experience peaks and troughs in their rise to the top.

Being the top-class player he is, Cole Palmer will be frustrated with himself — having scored just one goal in his five Premier League games.

However, Chelsea as a whole are in appalling form — having won, drawn and lost two games apiece in their last six Premier League outings.

While Palmer still has full faith in Enzo Maresca but it looks increasingly likely that the Blues might not even qualify for the Champions League.

All eyes will not just be on Maresca but on the treble-winner as well as he is Chelsea’s main man.

Cole Palmer told he is out of form because Nicolas Jackson is injured

One of the struggles for Palmer in recent weeks has been that Nicolas Jackson is injured — a player the Englishman dovetails with excellently.

The Chelsea striker is expected to be ruled out for a few weeks, which is a blow for both the young midfielder and Enzo Maresca as they sit in sixth place in the Premier League.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	ChelseaChelsea	25	12	7	6	47	34	13	43

Paul Merson believes that Jackson’s absence has affected Chelsea and Palmer adversely.

Merson told Sportskeeda: “Chelsea are struggling so badly at the moment. I look at them and they are missing Nicolas Jackson quite badly. Without him, I don’t see a real pattern of play. Jackson’s absence is also affecting Cole Palmer, who has to drop deeper now.”

While Chelsea have been dissatisfied with Jackson’s displays, it cannot be disputed that the former Villareal forward’s link-up and hold-up play is exemplary and helps them get up the pitch with ease.

While Palmer has turned heads at Chelsea, there is only so much one man can do as he is the West Londoners’ primary goalscorer and creator while also being tasked to progress the ball from deeper areas in Jackson’s absence.

Palmer and Jackson’s Chelsea record shows how much England star depends on him

The versatile technician will be hoping that his teammate returns to full fitness as soon as possible.

Palmer and Jackson share a strong connection on the pitch, having scored and assisted each other 13 times in 62 appearances in tandem.

While one would have expected the England international to be the primary creator between the pair, the numbers prove that is not the case.

Jackson has assisted seven of Palmer’s goals while the former has scored six due to the latter’s final ball.

As a result, the Wythenshwe-born superstar is hugely dependent on his teammate.

If Enzo Maresca looked at such numbers, he might be concerned as the evidence shows that despite Jackson’s weaknesses as an out-and-out goalscorer, he has a massive impact on Chelsea’s success.