Mind-breaking stat shows how world class creator has been let down by his teammates | OneFootball

Cole Palmer is in a real slump by his standards.

Chelsea fans got used to the attacker rattling in goals and assists on a weekly basis since he signed for the club, but recent months have seen both dry up. His last Premier League goal for the Blues came on the 14th of January when we played Bournemouth, and his last assist was way back in December when we faced Aston Villa.

But how much is this down to Palmer’s form, and how much is it down to Chelsea’s general slide since that Villa game?

One quite incredible stat is Palmer’s “expected assists.” According to the xG Philosophy on Twitter, in that category he has 8.82, ahead of Mo Salah’s 8.63.

Expected Assists are described as a metric which “measures the quality of chances that a player is creating. The metric provides a better insight than actual assists, as it isn’t dependent on what happens after the pass is made (for example, the shooter’s finishing).”

So while Palmer has general enough chances to have almost 9 assists, he actually only has 6.

Meanwhile Salah, with an almost identical quality of chances created, has an insane 17, putting him on course to break the record.

This says a lot about how well Salah’s Liverpool teammates are playing of course. But to have almost triple what Palmer has from the same xA is astonishing.

Palmer needs help – and may finally be getting it

There is no doubt that Palmer’s levels have dropped in the last few months – but there is still a critical need for those around him to step up and help out. We saw promising signs on Tuesday night where the Blues ran out 4-0 winners despite Palmer not getting a goal or assist.

Now we need to see that carried forward for the rest of the season.