Is Cole Palmer Essential in FPL?

With six goals, five assists and two mega-hauls during the opening seven Gameweeks, we ask if and when Cole Palmer (£10.8m) is essential in FPL.

Last season’s highest scorer has recently shot up to joint-top, alongside Erling Haaland (£15.4m). When both the Norwegian and fellow premium asset Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) blanked in Gameweek 6, Palmer scored a phenomenal four first-half goals versus Brighton.

At the weekend, when Haaland and Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) blanked, the Chelsea attacker bagged an assist.

LUCKY OR SUSTAINABLE?

These opening seven outings have already reminded managers of Palmer’s explosiveness. His hauls of 25 and 17 points follow the last campaign’s peaks of 26, 20 and 18. Nobody beat his 10 double-digit scores.

Statistics can help us determine whether he’s overachieving or building a fantastic foundation of all-round data.

For example, Palmer’s penalty area touches (23) have been really poor, bettered by 43 other individuals so far. And his 13 shots inside the box are below 15 other individuals. However, he’s also sixth for attempts (24) and joint-third for shots on target (11).

He’s creative too, currently second for setting up chances (23) and big chances (eight). Only Haaland surpasses his 6.03 expected goal involvement (xGI) but, simultaneously, Palmer is the league’s biggest overachiever in this area (+4.97).

IS HE FIXTURE-PROOF?

The 22-year-old scored well versus the rest of 2023/24’s top eight, where 11 starts held an average of 7.18 points. Albeit his successes were mostly at home. A hat-trick versus Man United, alongside a goal and assist past Newcastle and strikes against Man City and Arsenal all took place at Stamford Bridge.

What makes this relevant is that Chelsea’s next four matches are against Liverpool (a), Newcastle (h), Man United (a) and Arsenal (h). A tricky spell on paper but perhaps only the first and last ones. Especially when his penalty-taking adds another route to long-term points.

HIS TEAM, CHELSEA

It’s felt like a mixed start under Enzo Maresca, combining big wins with home draws versus Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. Yet, surprisingly, they enter October’s international break in fourth place.

Furthermore, once these tricky-looking next four are completed, fixtures improve greatly for them.

As a team, the Blues have scored the second-most goals but are down in ninth place for shots (96). This 16.7% goal conversion is joint-highest with Brentford and could be interpreted as either luck or quality finishers. There’s certainly been an improvement in Nicolas Jackson‘s (£7.9m) output.

Still, there’s a talismanic vibe around Palmer that maybe the other high-priced names don’t have. Another advantage is that he’s not part of Chelsea’s Europa Conference League squad, meaning he’ll be the sole rotation-proof FPL attacker in their bloated squad.

PLAYING THE PREMIUMS

But owning Palmer isn’t as simple as last year, where he began at £5.0m and made a mockery of that to become FPL’s greatest-ever bargain.

He’s now £10.8m in a trickier pricing landscape that finally makes it difficult to own all of the elite assets. There’s an acceptance that managers can’t have them all and will need good luck when timing inter-premium transfers.

It feels unwise to not have both Palmer and Saka from Gameweek 12 but – for those who fear going without Haaland – it is still possible to squeeze all three into a squad. All that’s required is a sacrificing of Salah, Ollie Watkins (£9.1m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.1m).

Any remaining Wildcards could be targeted for that exact moment.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Look across social media and you’ll find some noteworthy managers are doing brilliantly well without Haaland – a player with 10 goals in seven matches. So, using that, it’s certainly possible to succeed in FPL without Palmer, making him not essential.

• READ MORE: Is Palmer a must-have in FPL with tougher fixtures ahead?
• READ MORE: FPL Q&A – Is Palmer essential, no Haaland + Martinelli v Trossard

Having said that, Chelsea’s Gameweek 12 schedule improvement could become impossible to ignore if Palmer keeps up this form. And his fixture-proof element means buying him even sooner might be wise. After all, it’s the same guy who just racked up 25 points against a decent Brighton.

He’s the talisman of a high-scoring team and a penalty-taker, also one of the best for creativity. One word of caution: Palmer is already on three yellow cards. Should he soon get a fourth, he’s on the verge of a one-match suspension and will remain so until Gameweek 19.