Christopher Nkunku back to ease demand on Cole Palmer as Chelsea continue European march

Chelsea do not want the season to end, with a newfound solidity becoming the base for clinical performances.

Chelsea struggled early on in at Brighton, just as they did away at Nottingham Forest, but Mauricio Pochettino’s system gives them a platform to build.

It is then about the exceptional players delivering and Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku did just that away at the Amex Stadium in a 2-1 win over Brighton. Danny Welbeck pulled one back after Reece James’ red card, but the visitors held on.

Chelsea are now likely to qualify for at least the Conference League and are gunning to reach the Europa League, ahead of a final match of the season against Bournemouth on Sunday.

Cole Palmer (again)

The song goes ‘Palmer again: ole, ole’. As simple as it is, it highlights the certainty that he will do something brilliant over 90 minutes.

Once again, every single touch was absolutely beautiful at the Amex Stadium, but his touch for his goal felt very un-Palmer.

His dart to the near-post saw him evade his marker and then he produced a looping, glancing header to open the scoring in the 34th minute.

Palmer has now matched Frank Lampard’s best-ever scoring season for Chelsea with 22 goals. It's an impressive feat, especially considering he is just 22-years-old and in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

Nkunku has returned

The last match was about James’ return and this was all about Nkunku.

The France international looked sharp in a 50-minute appearance after coming on for Mykhailo Mudryk, who got concussion late into the first half.

A few nice touches and shots ultimately resulted in a Nkunku goal, turning in Malo Gusto’s cut-back.

It will be interesting to see how this attack evolves. The Frenchman was supposed to be the star man, but Palmer has stepped up in his absence.

The new rotating system

Have you ever seen two central midfielders rotate positions with their nearest full-back? It’s an uncommon sight, but it is how Pochettino adapted to having Gusto in the team, with Moises Caicedo dropping in at right-back from time to time and the Frenchman moving centrally.

The same action happened down the left with Gallagher and Marc Cucurella. This system is how Chelsea’s solidity has been found.

Unfortunately, the tale of full-backs had a sting for Chelsea as James was sent off for kicking Joao Pedro and will now serve a four-game ban, missing the first three matches next season.