Can Ruben Amorim stop the rot, Brighton to go Greek and an Anfield baptism of fire for Eberechi Eze
Calling Chelsea “Cole Palmer FC” is not much of an insult. Oh no, you have one of the best attackers in the world. Oh no, you got him for a bargain price. Oh no, he won you the Club World Cup last month. Still, no side ever wants to be completely reliant on one player. Chelsea aim to depend more on the collective than the individual. They have struggled without Palmer in the past but thrived in his absence against West Ham last week. Palmer withdrew with a groin injury during the warm-up and is a doubt to face Fulham in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off. However Enzo Maresca has options. Estêvão Willian came in for Palmer against West Ham and was exceptional on the right wing. João Pedro and Pedro Neto were excellent. Chelsea have enough talent at their disposal to beat Fulham without Palmer. Jacob Steinberg
Chelsea v Fulham, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)
Ruben Amorim has to end Saturday afternoon with only one thing achieved: a first victory of the season that will quieten the noise around him and Manchester United. Burnley will arrive at Old Trafford with the opposite aim and should closely study how Grimsby took Amorim’s insipid men apart in Wednesday’s 12-11 penalty shootout knockout in the Carabao Cup. So: now is the time for the head coach to ruthless and select an XI that has Bruno Fernandes as one of his 10s, Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield, Benjamin Sesko at centre-forward for a first Premier League start and, dare this correspondent suggest it, a tweak of formation to 4-3-3 as his beloved 3-4-3 just is not working. Will the stubborn Amorim do any of this? The latter – almost certainly not.
