This is an unprecedented situation for Cole Palmer at Chelsea. The 22-year-old, who has once again been the Blues' most impactful player this season, is without a goal since the 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth midway through January.

Yes, you may argue Palmer scored against Brighton in the FA Cup fourth round defeat but that has officially been given as an own goal from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Either way, the England international has performed below his sky-high standards in recent outings for the west Londoners.

Granted, so has the rest of the team. It is a vicious circle in may ways - Chelsea not performing negatively impacts Palmer and vice-versa. In the last two matches, the Blues have been without Nicolas Jackson, who is set to be absent until after next month's international break, and that has affected Palmer, who usually links up so well with the Senegalese striker.

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Palmer and Christopher Nkunku, the man who spent the majority of the defeat to Brighton on Friday as the makeshift No.9, like to occupy the same areas in between the lines. It is much more difficult for them two to form as impactful of a partnership than Palmer and Jackson, with the latter who loves to make runs in behind the opposition defence and the former the man trying to find him.

Against Brighton, in the second of back-to-back fixtures away at the Seagulls, it was another ineffective showing from Palmer. Chelsea's No.20 had two chances - one in the first-half that was a lot better than the other - but failed to convince with either.

Palmer, therefore, cut an extremely frustrated figure on the pitch down on the south coast - something Enzo Maresca was asked about post-match. Maresca said on Palmer: "I think, in one way, it can show the desire of Cole to improve things.

"But at the same time, it's not just about Cole. It's about all the players when you don't win the game. It's a bit like with the fans: when you don't win the game, it's normal that they are not happy."

There was evident frustration from Palmer, whose "cold" nickname has not been lived up to in recent weeks. He is usually the type of player that dictates the flow of a match - when he decides something needs to happen, more often than not, something will then happen.

This season as a whole has been trickier for Palmer. Last term, he was a fairly unknown quantity. People, of course, knew of his talent when he was at Manchester City but it was only at Chelsea where we started to see signs of a world-class attacking talent.

This term, players have targeted Palmer more; knowing that if they can limit the amount of play he has at his feet, then Chelsea will struggle as a result. In central areas, in particular, teams have crowded out Palmer this season - meaning the Premier League's fifth-joint top goal scorer this term needs to produce even more magic to simply get a shot on goal.

And while there is a reliance - perhaps an overreliance - on Palmer's shoulders to produce on a weekly basis for Chelsea, he has not been able to do that recently. Aston Villa away at the weekend is an enormous match for the Blues for a variety of reasons and in order to get anything from Villa Park - a notoriously difficult place to go - then Chelsea will need Palmer at his best.

They need that swagger back; the swagger many have fallen in love with at Stamford Bridge. The arrogance where he knows he is the best footballer on the pitch 99% of the time. By no means is this a crisis for Palmer, but the sooner he is able to turn it on again, the sooner Chelsea will start firing once more.

It seems unfair to say that to Palmer. There should not be this much reliance and pressure on him, but that is unfortunately the reality at the moment. For someone with such enormous ambitions for trophies, on a personal level as well, he will not want to have that reliance on him forever.