Estevao celebrates after scoring for Chelsea against BarcelonaBradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images

Let’s go back to April last year and the build-up to when Chelsea were about to play Arsenal. Mauricio Pochettino was head coach and the team were facing the prospect of taking on their London rivals without their talisman, Cole Palmer, due to illness.

“It’s a good challenge for the team-mates,” Pochettino said. “If I am a team-mate of Cole Palmer in his position or a similar position, I am going to be motivated to go there and show this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club.” Pochettino’s attempts at motivating the group did not work. Chelsea were thrashed 5-0 at the Emirates and they very much continued to be referred to as ‘Cole Palmer FC’.

Even though he suffered a dip in form under Pochettino’s successor, Enzo Maresca, earlier this year, the tag pretty much remained last season as well. Palmer was the one who provided the inspiration to help Chelsea win the Conference League final and Club World Cup final.

But with another match against Arsenal coming up on Sunday, Chelsea now have a lot more belief they can win without Palmer than they did 19 months ago.

They have proved this to themselves for several weeks. The manner of their 3-0 Champions League victory over Barcelona on Tuesday simply provided an exclamation mark to what they have been doing.

Maresca’s side have played without Palmer for 13 matches, mostly due to a groin injury. The chances of him returning against Barcelona were ruled out last week due to fracturing the little toe on his left foot.

If you told Chelsea fans before the campaign began, let alone Maresca, that Palmer would miss so many games in succession, a stronger term than ‘unlucky for some’ would have probably been uttered.

But just look at the simple table below of their record in all competitions without him since he had to be substituted at Manchester United in September. It makes pretty impressive reading. One of the two defeats comes with the caveat that Chelsea were reduced to 10 men against Brighton & Hove Albion when leading 1-0.

What really catches your eye is just how prolific they have been in finding the net 30 times.

Palmer has finished as Chelsea’s top scorer in the two seasons he has completed at Stamford Bridge so far, getting 25 goals in 2023-24 and 18 in 2024-25. Maresca will be delighted that Liam Delap’s neat finish to make it 3-0 against Barcelona ensured there have now been 16 different scorers (including own goals) in Palmer’s absence over the past two months. They are listed below.

Estevao stands out here,just as his performance did against Barcelona. Five goals is some return. This remarkable young man is not afraid of the big occasion — he relishes it. The 18-year-old generates the same kind of buzz in the crowd that Palmer has sparked since arriving from Manchester City in 2023.

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Chelsea 3 Barcelona 0 – Estevao shines in statement Champions League win

But the encouraging aspect for Chelsea is that so many of the players have taken the responsibility to provide the end product.

Palmer’s creativity is also something that is hard to replace, and while making an assist is not the only metric by which to gauge this part of the game, it is still worth noting that 13 different players have provided at least one during this same run of fixtures.

While you could not say this earlier in the campaign, there are a number of squad members in good form at present. Pedro Neto has responded brilliantly to the challenge for his place in the first XI that Estevao is providing, a point Maresca was keen to make when asked if it is going to be harder to leave the Brazil international out of the side due to the way he is playing. He replied: “No, to be honest. Because if he doesn’t play, Pedro Neto plays wide in his position. And Pedro is good. And we are happy with Pedro.”

On the opposite flank, summer buys Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens have accrued nine goal involvements between them during these 13 fixtures. Even some lower down the pecking order, such as Andrey Santos and Tyrique George, have registered four each.

However, the magic of Estevao is hard to ignore. Barcelona tried to contain him, but his dancing feet left them bewildered. Defender Pau Cubarsí looked like a lost tourist in London, figuring out which way to go as the teenager dribbled past him before firing a shot over goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

By finding the net, Estevao became only the third player to score in all of his first three Champions League appearances. Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are the only others to have managed the feat. Achievements like that only increase the growing expectations on his young shoulders. Maresca has done a fine job in protecting Estevao thus far and managing his minutes, but the demands from the crowd for more will only grow louder.

One reporter asked Maresca if Estevao’s goal reminded him of Lionel Messi. After likening it to Estevao’s strike against Chelsea for Palmeiras at the Club World Cup instead, Maresca replied: “Estevao needs to relax, he needs to enjoy, he needs to play football. Him, Lamine (Yamal), they are so young, 18, that if you start to talk about Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo, I think it’s too much pressure for young boys like them. They need to enjoy, they need to arrive at the training ground happy.”

Cole Palmer congratulates Estevao (Robin Jones/Getty Images)

Palmer’s return can help alleviate the pressure because he is used to attracting the limelight. He resumed training this week and is close to featuring again, whether he is ready to play a part against Arsenal or not.

When Estevao came off late on against Barcelona, Palmer was pictured shaking his team-mate’s hand in the Chelsea dugout with a big smile on his face. Are Chelsea a stronger side with Palmer? Of course. But the thought of these two starting games together on a regular basis will surely be a worrying prospect for opposition defenders.