On October 1, 2023, Chelsea have been in dire straits. They have been sitting in 14th within the Premier League by six matchweeks, they usually’d scored simply 5 objectives. It was arguably one in every of their darkest moments for the reason that pre-Abramovich period. Nonetheless, it might not final lengthy, as precisely one month earlier, they’d signed a promising however untested attacker from Manchester Metropolis named Cole Palmer for simply 40 million kilos.
Palmer’s 22 objectives and 11 assists in that season helped them end sturdy, shedding simply as soon as of their remaining 15 matches to snag sixth place and a spot within the Convention League. This yr, Chelsea are third within the desk by 11 matches, they usually have their sights set on one thing a lot better for this season—as does Cole Palmer, who’s at the moment sitting atop the percentages leaderboard for this yr’s PFA Participant of the 12 months award, at +300 betting odds.
Cole Palmer Gives Nice Worth For PFA Participant of the 12 months
Participant
Staff
Odds
Cole Palmer
Chelsea
+300
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool
+350
Erling Haaland
Manchester Metropolis
+400
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal
+1,000
Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester Metropolis
+1,600
Final yr, Metropolis’s Phil Foden gained the PFA Participant of the 12 months award with six fewer aim involvements than Cole Palmer. Nonetheless, whereas Chelsea barely scraped its method to a sixth place end, Metropolis gained their fifth PL title in six years underneath Pep Guardiola. Clearly, you’ll be able to’t simply be a very good participant, you need to play for a very good staff too.
With Chelsea now in a reputable battle for the highest 4 and Champions League locations, the same season for Palmer this yr must be sufficient to take dwelling the {hardware}. Palmer had 33 aim involvements in 33 PL appearances in 2023-2024, and this yr, he’s bought 12 in 11. So not solely is Chelsea enjoying a lot better, however Palmer has in some way discovered a method to construct on his otherworldly breakout efficiency final season. He’s additionally spreading out his contributions, serving to out extra within the buildup with 5 assists to go together with his seven objectives.
Nonetheless, whereas he’s at the moment atop the leaderboard, his perch up there may be perilous, to say the least. Three of the opposite 4 gamers within the prime 5 have gained the award during the last 4 seasons. The truth is, KDB, Haaland, and Salah mixed to win this award 5 of six instances from 2018-2023. The betting odds for Palmer, Haaland, and Salah are particularly tight.
So tight, the truth is, that some on-line sportsbooks would possibly even have Metropolis’s talisman atop their leaderboard moderately than Palmer. Haaland does have already got 12 objectives, so he’s about on tempo with what he did final yr, when he misplaced the award to his teammate. If Chelsea can keep within the prime 4 and Palmer maintains his present scoring tempo, he must be an ideal worth guess right here. The truth that he’s the one Englishman within the operating (Saka is a methods again) offers him a slight edge too.
May Palmer Win Premier League Golden Boot Too?
Since Erling Haaland joined the Premier League forward of the 2022-2023 season, he has been past dominant in entrance of the web. In that debut yr, he scored 36 objectives in 35 PL matches. The man in second place had 30. Final yr, he regressed a bit, scoring simply 27 league objectives. This time, the margin was a tad smaller, as Palmer checked in in 2nd place together with his 22 objectives, though his 11 assists gave him extra aim involvements (33) than Haaland (32).
So, the large query is, can Palmer dethrone the mighty manchild they name Erling Haaland and maintain him from successful his third straight Golden Boot? Nicely, sportsbooks don’t suppose so proper now, they usually’re not incorrect.
Haaland has 12 already this yr, whereas Palmer has seven and Salah is in there with eight as effectively. Whereas guys like Chris Wooden and Bryan Mbeumo even have eight proper now, we don’t anticipate them to maintain that tempo up, so it looks as if the trio from Metropolis, Liverpool, and Chelsea are actually the one ones competing for this award at this level. Nonetheless, after scoring 10 objectives within the first 5 matches, Haaland has solely scored two in his final six PL begins, so he could possibly be displaying his mortality as a goalscorer simply as his staff, Metropolis, are doing the identical as PL champions.
Haaland is at -500 odds to win the Golden Boot, with Salah coming in at +750 (which looks as if the most effective guess on the board) and Palmer coming in third at +1,200. Whereas Palmer has an ideal shot at successful the PFA Participant of the 12 months as the most effective participant total, it’s laborious to guess towards the uncooked numbers of Erling Haaland in terms of strictly aim scoring.
