Cole Palmer spotted as Enzo Maresca dealt huge Chelsea injury scare after Arsenal draw

Cole Palmer was spotted limping following Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Arsenal. The 22-year-old midfielder helped the Blues salvage a point against the Gunners at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening, nailing third place in the Premier League over the international break.

Gabriel Martinelli fired Arsenal ahead on the hour-mark, beating Robert Sanchez at his near post. Then, a few moments later, Pedro Neto found an equaliser with a brilliant strike into the bottom corner from range.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Maresca was quizzed on Palmer's fitness. The former Manchester City prospect was subject to a nasty challenge by Lisandro Martinez during Chelsea's clash against Manchester United last weekend, casting doubt over his availability for the London derby.

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"I don't think we took any risks," said the Blues boss when asked about Palmer, who was named in the latest England squad. "For sure, he was a doubt until the end. His performances have been very good. In the first 10 minutes, we contact with him, from [Levi] Colwill to him, three or four times.

"Then they adjust and [Thomas] Partey was marking him man-to-man so it was difficult for Cole in that case, but overall, very happy with Cole's performance," added Maresca. "Yeah, he is painful now but it doesn't look something important."

Palmer was then later spotted limping as he left Stamford Bridge. On heading into the international break in third place, the Chelsea boss said: "Very happy. For me, we are behind this kind of club, like City and Arsenal.

"The reason why is because they work every single day in the last five years or nine years with the same manager, so we are behind them. This doesn't mean when we face them, we are not going to compete and try to win.

"Chelsea are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, in the world. Yes, we need to compete and try to win games. Tonight, we competed and tried to win the game and very soon we will win these kind of games."

Maresca added: "They showed me after the game. To be honest, it's nice, especially for the fans because the last period has not been great or as good as the club are used to. We are happy. Now we have an international break, we can recover the energy and then when we come back, we go again."