I felt good all game – Cole Palmer back to his best for Chelsea | OneFootball

Cole Palmer said he felt “free” during Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Liverpool after he rounded off the victory with a penalty to end his 16-week scoring drought.

The new Premier League champions were seen off by an excellent display from Enzo Maresca’s side with Palmer back to his brilliant best.

The England forward had not scored since January 14 but there had been signs during recent matches of his form returning, and against a Reds side featuring six changes from their title triumph a week ago his flair and invention bloomed.

“I felt good all game,” he told Chelsea’s official website. “I thought I was playing free, I was playing well before the goal.

“I felt confident and just thought about trying to score. We would have won anyway to be honest but to seal it felt good.”

Palmer’s moment came with virtually the game’s final kick and it was a fitting finale.

After Jarell Quansah had upended Moises Caicedo’s dart into the penalty area, Palmer took the roof off Stamford Bridge to cap a perfect afternoon for Chelsea who moved level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle.

It left their Champions League fate firmly in their own hands, holding a three-point lead over Nottingham Forest, who have a game in hand, and Aston Villa.

Chelsea travel to St James’ Park on Sunday, then after a home game against Manchester United they round off the campaign with a potentially season-defining trip to the City Ground to face Forest, a match that could prove a straight shoot-out for the top five.

Yet in Palmer, Maresca’s side have a key weapon back in their armoury.

His return to form could not have come at a better moment, and the Blues will likely be favourites to pip Villa and Forest should the 22-year-old keep firing for the next three games.

“I knew that patches like this (scoring drought) were going to come, it was going to happen,” said Palmer.

“It’s not really affected me, it’s just one of those things in life. Maybe it was on my mind at the start, but as it’s gone on I’ve realised that it’s just life. I’m not going to stay in a good patch for 18 months and never have a bad patch.”

Arne Slot handed Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott their first league starts of the season and there was clear disruption to Liverpool’s rhythm, particularly with the midfield trio of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch left out.

“In general, a good performance, but the final percentages weren’t there to win this game,” said Slot.

“Would it have happened if the (title) was on the line? We will never know. But the margins are small in the Premier League. Against a team like Chelsea you cannot afford these kind of moments.”