Cole Palmer wasn’t at his best in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Chelsea, but Pep Guardiola allowed him to play a full 90 minutes and might keep him in the starting eleven when City travel to face Southampton.
City are playing their third game in six days on Wednesday and have a Manchester derby to worry about 64 hours later, so Guardiola is likely to rest a number of first-team players.
Pep has Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva who can operate out wide for City, but Palmer might be the one who gets the nod as he wouldn’t be starting against Manchester United.
The 20-year-old is highly-rated by his manager after breaking into the first-team three years ago and has gone on to make 28 appearances in all competitions for City, scoring three goals with one assist.
Palmer has been in City’s matchday squad all season too, playing in eight of City’s 17 Premier League games (47%) and four of their six Champions League outings (66.66%), so he’s getting a lot of opportunities from Pep.
The England U21 international should fare better against a side of Southampton’s calibre rather than Chelsea’s, so it might make sense for Guardiola to give Palmer another chance.
Can you name these Man City players from the 2000s? Test your knowledge, take the quiz and challenge your friends and family to beat your score