Chelsea forward Cole Palmer’s 16-game goal drought is due to a mental issue rather than a tactical or technical one, manager Enzo Maresca has said. The 22-year-old England international had a remarkable debut campaign last season at Chelsea, scoring 27 goals and registering 15 assists in 48 matches. This time around, however, Palmer has found the back of the net just 14 times in all competitions so far. Maresca believes it is only a matter of time before the player breaks his drought. “For sure it’s a mental thing, it’s not tactical or technical,” Maresca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s Premier League home game against 13th-placed Everton. “Cole is still the player who scored 14 goals in 20 games. The style is the same, the manager is the same, the club is the same. Nothing has changed around Cole. It’s just mentally in this moment. “You can see he’s a little bit worried because he wants to help the team. You can see he’s struggling a bit on that. But he showed how happy he was after Fulham. It’s just a matter (of whether) we can win games. For sure he’s going to score goals. “If you go back game by game, he had at least every game one or two chances, so it’s not about how the team is playing.” Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League table with 57 points from 33 matches, as they chase Champions League qualification for next season. They trail fifth-placed Newcastle United by two points. At least five Premier League teams are guaranteed a spot in the 2025-26 edition of the Champions League.