September saw the Premier League get up and running with 4 rounds of games around the international break, domestic cups and European competitions. With the league table beginning to take shape after the opening games in August/September, some teams have continued their impressive start, some have struggled to make progress and others are improving as the season goes on.

This months NextGoalWinner player of the month winner is part of the last category of teams we mentioned, as his Chelsea side are being led up the table after a fairly poor start and huge scrutiny in the transfer window. In September, they saw 4 wins from 5 games in all competitions, and 10/12 points in the league. With an unbeaten month to take pride in, it was largely down to the attacking talents of 22 year old Cole Palmer.

Cole Palmer has lived up to his ‘ice cold’ nickname as he produced some huge performances in helping Chelsea to their successful month. With 5 goals and 1 assist in 4 league games, he had been hugely relied upon to help in wins over West Ham and in particular Brighton, which the performance itself would have been worthy of the Player of the Month award.

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Match By Match

September 1st: Chelsea 1-1 Crystal Palace – Starting off the month, Palmer got his first goal contribution as he helped Chelsea to a first half lead by setting up teammate Nicholas Jackson. Although Palace fought their way back into the game in the second half, it a point against a tricky opponent set up Chelsea for strong month, after what had been an up and down August. Palmer himself had a decent showing in this one, getting the first half assist, but then struggling in front of goal himself as he only managed 2 shots (1 on target) in the game. With a 7.9/10 FotMob rating it was a respectable performance from Palmer, but the best was certainly still to come for him and Chelsea.

September 14th: AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Chelsea – The improvements began for Chelsea in the win over Bournemouth where another potentially tricky opponent almost gave Chelsea a scare but they were persistent in their chances and managed a late winner at Nkunku bagged an 86th minute winner. This game helped Chelsea begin their post-international break winning run, and climb up the table. Palmer had missed the international break with a possible injury, but played the full 90 against Bournemouth, although producing his lowest rated showing of the month. In the only game in September where he failed to produce a goal contribution, he also failed to get a shot on goal with only 1 chance created. With a 7.5/10 FotMob rating, it was a decent showing but possibly not a player of the month outing, but that was until we saw the huge performances in the second half of September.

September 21st: West Ham United 0-3 Chelsea – Chelsea were relentless against their London rivals as they took a 2-0 first half lead, which was rounded off in the 47th minute by Palmer who bagged his first goal in the month. While it was Jackson’s day, Palmer was very influential and had a strong showing in the 64 minutes played. Bagging the 3rd goal, he also contributed in the build up play and chance creation. With another 7.9/10 FotMob rating, it was another above average showing from the consistently good Palmer, and being withdrawn in the 64th minute, it allowed him to be fresh for the game against Brighton.

September 28th: Chelsea 4-2 Brighton & Hove Albion – The Brighton victory is the primary reason for Palmer’s Player of the Month award, as prior to this he had been above average and consistent in his outings prior. However, the first half against Brighton was on another level. Brighton have been impressive so far this season under Hurzeler, but Palmer and Chelsea tore them apart in a hugely entertaining first half. With the game swinging back and forth with 6 goals in the first half, it was Chelsea who took a lead into the break thanks to Cole Palmer, who had bagged all 4 in just 45 minutes to give Chelsea their 4-2 lead. Becoming the first player in Premier League history to score 4 goals in the first half of a game, he was relentless with his chances, scoring from the spot, from a fantastic free-kick and the 2 goals set up by teammates Jackson and Sancho. With all the drama in the first 45 minutes the second half calmed down as Chelsea and Palmer could take their foot off the gas, but with 4 goals, 7 shots, and an individual xG of 2.41 he was as close to perfect in this performance as you would ever want to see. For the first half alone, he is above everyone else in the league this month as he and Chelsea produced a very strong month to get themselves into a genuine top 4 contention this season.