Cole Palmer sent stark warning by Gary Neville ahead of Chelsea's trip to Liverpool

Gary Neville has issued a warning to Chelsea’s star man Cole Palmer, suggesting he will face a tough time when his team takes on Liverpool at Anfield.

England star Palmer netted 22 goals in the Premier League last season, a tally surpassed only by Manchester City’s Erling Haaland. This season, only the Norwegian has outscored him so far, with Palmer having found the back of the net six times in seven games.

As Palmer joins up with the England squad, Chelsea sit fourth in the table, having been defeated only by City so far this season. However, a challenging fixture looms as they prepare to face league leaders Liverpool next after the international break.

In their previous encounter at Anfield in January, Palmer was kept quiet by Liverpool’s defence, with the Reds cruising to a 4-1 victory. The Carabao Cup final also ended in favour of Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Neville anticipates a similar outcome this time, particularly given Arne Slot’s team’s impressive defensive record. Speaking to NBC Sports over the weekend, Neville said: “I always think that Anfield is the toughest place to get space.

“And you think about how Cole Palmer plays, and the way he always looks like he’s got time on the ball, it’ll be interesting to see how he does at Anfield and how Liverpool will attend to him.

“[They will] be really aggressive against him and test him. They won’t want to let him have any joy in the game and encouragement early on. Anfield can be a place where you can get bullied a little bit, off the crowd, the atmosphere.”

He continued: “I always remember when I went to Anfield [as a player], I think it’s the toughest place to go. And I think for a Chelsea team under Maresca, it’s a real challenge for them. And it will be interesting to see how they fare in that.”

Chelsea enter the international break following a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge against a Nottingham Forest side yet to taste defeat on the road. Chris Wood broke the deadlock for Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad, with Noni Madueke levelling the score. And despite James Ward-Prowse’s red, Forest clung on to share the spoils.

After the final whistle, Maresca told Match of the Day 2: “I think we deserved to win.”They are a very good team and we knew they would defend well. It was a tough and tricky game, very different to Brighton. We were patient on the ball and created chances.

“Overall the performance was good and I think we deserved to win. Their keeper was the best of the game. We created chances and arrived at goal in the way we want to.”