Wolves worries
Chelsea aren’t the only side with injury concerns, of course.
Vitor Pereira could be without star man Matheus Cunha, who was ill at the end of last week.
The Brazilian, who has 10 goals this season, was another player who missed training on Friday.
Pereira said on Friday: “Today, he was out of the training because he got the flu.
“He’s a bit sick, and I hope tomorrow he will be on the pitch.
“Then, it’s a possibility to be in the next game.”
Again, there has been no update since then from the club.
Toti Gomes and Boubacar Traore are close to returning but aren’t expected to be fit for the Chelsea match.
Sasa Kalajdzic, Yerson Mosquera and Enso Gonzalez aren’t due back for weeks.
Others missing
It’s not just Palmer that could miss the crunch clash against Wolves.
Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are both longer-term injury concerns, as is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Mykhailo Mudryk is out indefinitely due to his drug case.
The more pressing concerns, alongside Palmer, are Levi Colewill, Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia.
All three started the draw with Bournemouth but we also left out of training on Friday.
Maresca said: “[Along with Palmer] Levi was also not in the session today, Enzo wasn’t in the session today, Romeo wasn’t in the session today. “So, we have three or four players who are doubts for Monday’s game because of the last game.”
We’ll bring you any and all updates on those players as soon as we hear them.
‘Cole is a doubt’
Maresca revealed on Friday that Palmer had missed training and was unsure if he was going to train over the weekend.
There has been no update from the club since.
At the time, Maresca revealed: “Cole is a doubt.
“The first half [of the last game] they kicked him so he didn’t train today.
“We don’t know if he will train in the next two days.”
Palmer has scored or assisted 20 of Chelsea’s 41 Premier League goals this season and leads his team-mates in both goals (14) and assists (6).
“We rely on Cole because he’s a big player,” Maresca added.
“We prefer to play with Cole but in case he has an injury or a problem, then we will find a solution.”
