Following his penalty double in Chelsea’s thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over Tottenham on Sunday, pundit Jamie Carragher asserted that midfielder Cole Palmer has already surpassed the achievements of club legend Gianfranco Zola and is on par with Eden Hazard, suggesting a Premier League title win could cement Palmer’s status as one of Chelsea’s greatest players.
Palmer’s impressive performance included scoring his 12th consecutive penalty in the Premier League, setting a new competition record for the most spot-kicks scored without a single miss, surpassing Yaya Toure’s mark of 11.
The England international has now accumulated 50 goal involvements (33 goals and 17 assists) in just 48 Premier League appearances for the Blues.
Only three players in the competition’s history have reached that total in fewer games for a single club: Erling Haaland (39 games for Man City), Andy Cole (43 games for Newcastle), and Mohamed Salah (46 games for Liverpool).
Carragher acknowledged that while this young Chelsea squad, assembled with over £1.2 billion, is “no underdog story,” their sudden success is “totally unexpected” and has them “right in the mix for a title challenge.”
The comeback victory, which also saw goals from Enzo Fernandez and Jadon Sancho, leaves Enzo Maresca’s side just four points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
