Is Cole Palmer a must have in FPL?

In this article we focus on Cole Palmer and decide if he is a must have in FPL moving forward. To decide that, we take a look at Chelsea, the fixtures, his stats and anything else that could help us come to a conclusion.

Budget players can be some of the most important assets in the game to help us gain rank and an edge over our mini-league rivals. With his recent performances and upcoming fixtures, could Cole Palmer become essential?

The Chelsea Fixtures

Below we can see the Chelsea fixtures using the Fantasy Football Scout season ticker.

We can also see Chelsea’ next 10 fixtures ranging from Gameweek 13-22.

Chelsea face Newcastle, Brighton, and Manchester United in the next three. Although tough on paper, key defensive injuries could indicate that none of these matches will be as tough as many believe from an attacking point of view.

We can also see that after Manchester United Chelsea come up against Everton, Sheffield United, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Luton and Fulham. This means there could be plenty of potential for a Chelsea attacker in FPL.

The Chelsea attack

Its not been a convincing start to the season for Chelsea offensively. The Blues sit 10th in the league (at the time of writing) whilst netting 17 goals. That is an average of 1.5 goals scored per match.

But how do they compare to other teams in the league?

So far this season Chelsea rank:

Seventh best for goals scored – 17
Fourth best for big chances total – 35
Third best for expected goals scored – 22.66.
Mid-table for other data points like total attempts on goal, shots in the box and minutes per chance.

The Chelsea attack should be one of the best in the league. However, as we can tell the Blues are underperforming on a lot of their data. This means that although they are having a lot of chances Chelsea aren’t scoring enough goals.

Cole Palmer

Firstly Cole Palmer is a £5.1m midfielder in the game, making him one Chelsea’ cheapest attackers.

Since his first start in Gameweek 17 the Englishman has bagged at least one return in four of his five matches. His returns total to 47 points which average out at 9.4 points per game. A lot of these points come down to his penalty taking duty – taking and scoring three. In terms of his output without penalties Palmer has also created four assists in seven matches in all competitions. This shows he has other routes to points other than penalties.

Statistically, when we compare Palmer to all of the other Chelsea attackers in the last six Gameweeks he ranks second best for non-penalty expected goal involvement. This is another indication that the midfielder is still promising even without penalties.

When we compare Palmer to all other midfielders in the game he sits inside the top 10 for non-penalty expected goal involvement which is also promising.

It’s worth noting that Palmer produced most of his data and returns in matches against the likes of Tottenham, Brentford, Arsenal, Burnley and Fulham.

Competition for his place

Palmer has played the majority of his gametime on the right-wing for Chelsea. This is interesting because prior to Palmer’ inclusion in the side Raheem Sterling spent the majority his time in that position. However, Sterling has since started playing on the left-wing.

Another huge factor to consider is Christopher Nkunku (£7.3m). His return will be hailed as a significant one for the frontline. Since joining the club Nkunku has started in a strikers role, a number 10 role and a left-wing role.

The poor finishing of Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m) could result in Nkunku playing in a strikers role which shouldn’t impact Cole Palmer but if he starts on the left or in a number 10 role there’s no telling how it could impact Palmer.

What is worth noting however is that Cole Palmer has arguably been one of Chelsea’ most effective attackers recently. This would make the chances of him being dropped even slimmer.

Is Cole Palmer a must have?

No, but he could be an excellent asset moving forward. Cole Palmer has been one of Chelsea’ best attackers from both a statistical and FPL output perspective recently. At just £5.1m, on penalty duty and with some fantastic fixtures ahead Palmer has massive potential for the run ahead.