Chelsea are waiting on positive news to discover whether Cole Palmer will be fit to face his former club when they travel to Manchester City this weekend.

City are looking to leapfrog Chelsea and return to the top four in the Premier League, but a bad defeat at PSG this week has stalled their recent momentum.

The Blues beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the season, and started the campaign well. But a wretched run of form before Christmas ended their title defence and they are now focussed on securing Champions League football for next season.

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So, too, are Chelsea, and Palmer's goals will be key to their European qualification hopes. He has been a fitness doubt recently and sat out the FA Cup win over Morecambe, but has started the last two games despite fears over his condition.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca offered an update on Palmer ahead of their trip to Manchester, declaring he is 'getting better', but suggesting he is still not fully fit. He played 84 minutes on Monday night as Chelsea beat Wolves.

Maresca said: "He is better, he is better. He did an unbelievable effort to play against Wolves and he is getting better."

Another City academy graduate, Romeo Lavia, however, is still sidelined with injury and will miss the Etihad trip. And Maresca also offered support for friend Pep Guardiola, after working as Guardiola's assistant at City as they won the treble.

"I think it is normal [City's form]. It can happen," he said. "What is not normal is the amount of years they won things, won trophies; this is something that is not normal. What is normal is to live a moment like they are living this moment. But for sure, they are going to be back soon - I don't have any doubt.

"My contact with [Guardiola], with the club, is fantastic. I said many times: I will always be thankful to Manchester City, the reason why is because they called me back after an Italian club [Parma] sacked me after two or three months. That showed trust, confidence and faith - so I will always be thankful to the club and for sure, Pep because we are both managers but first of all, we have a fantastic relationship in terms of friendship and this is the most important thing."

But Maresca denied that Chelsea are facing City at a 'good' time, insisting: "I don't believe in these kinds of things. It is probably on the other side; I think this kind of club with this kind of players, when they are in a difficult moment, it's when they want to show how good they are.

"They want to come against everyone and say: 'Okay, if you think we are not good enough, we are going to show you how good we are', so I don't think there is a good moment to play against City.

"Pep is strong enough in this kind of thing but for sure, like any human being, he needs support in this moment. If you think about the last eight or nine years, except the last three or four months, they were top always, winning titles and important trophies. It is something normal."