Cole Palmer a must-have asset now his only drawback has been negated by the schedule

HERE at Dream Team HQ we try to avoid overly declarative statements.

But we’re happy to brand Cole Palmer (£6.3m) a must-have player for the festive period.

It could be argued that Chelsea’s talisman has been essential since Gameweek 1 given he’s already racked up 174 points via 11 goals and seven assists this season.

But there was one frustrating drawback that limited his viability throughout the first four months of the campaign — his comparatively relaxed workload.

Enzo Maresca has opted to rotate his squad extensively in the additional competitions to keep his key players fresh for the Premier League.

This strategy has worked superbly so far with the Blues now just two points behind league-leaders Liverpool, albeit having played an extra game.

The likes of Palmer, Nicolas Jackson (£4.2m) and Moises Caicedo (£3.5m) have watched Chelsea’s Conference League adventures from the comfort of their sofas, keeping their overall minutes in check.

While this has undoubtedly been beneficial in terms of warding off fatigue, it has meant the West Londoners’ star performers have not added points to their tally in midweek.

Hence why Jackson is ranked just 11th among Dream Team strikers despite the fact he’s score nine goals in 15 league outings this term.

In fact, the Senegal international averages 8.1 points-per-game, a rate bettered by only Mohamed Salah (£7.6m) and Erling Haaland (£8.4m) among players in his position, but he’s outside the top ten in terms of total points because he’s only played in the league.

Meanwhile, Kai Havertz (£4.7m), Cody Gakpo (£4.3m), Ollie Watkins (£5.5m) and others have all notched regular points in the Champions League, with Dominic Solanke (£4.2m) having banked 32 points in the Europa League so far.

Incredibly, Palmer is ranked second among midfielders and fourth overall despite the fact he has been limited to 16 league appearances.

For comparison, Bukayo Saka (£6.9m), the game’s leading midfielder right now, has made 22 appearances in the same time frame.

Chelsea’s No20 boasts the highest points-per-game average (10.9) among all players this season and so it’s logical to assert that he, not Salah, would be the top performer if every player fulfilled the same number of games.

It’s crucial Dream Team bosses understand that this hypothetical level playing field is about to become a reality.

The European competitions are about to be put on hold for the festive period, meaning all 20 top flight clubs have the same number of fixtures across the next two Gameweeks.

Not only that, Chelsea’s schedule appears rather favourable with Everton, Fulham, Ipswich and Crystal Palace to play between now and January 4th – three of those four opponents are currently in the bottom six of the table.

The first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals are due to take place in Gameweek 18 which will give four teams an additional fixture over Maresca’s side in early January but generally speaking it’s the perfect time to back Palmer now the only negative factor has been temporarily erased.

And who knows, maybe the 22 year-old superstar will be added to Chelsea’s Conference League squad for the knockout phase?

We wouldn’t be so bold to declare Jackson a must-have asset but he’s certainly a great option for the remainder of the year as well.

At the time of writing, Palmer is the second-most recruited player ahead of Gameweek 16 and he’s now the most selected individual in the game with an ownership of 60.3%, marginally ahead of Haaland on 60%.