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FINAL WHISTLE: COLE PALMER SUBSTITUTED WHILE NEW GIRLFRIEND OLIVIA HOLDER WATCHES FROM THE STANDS

Cole Palmer’s new partner, Olivia Holder, debut at Stamford Bridge during Chelsea's 2-1 defeat. Read Maresca’s reaction to the loss.

Final Whistle: Cole Palmer Substituted While New Girlfriend Olivia Holder Watches from the Stands
Olivia Holder Spotted at Stamford Bridge

Cole Palmer's new girlfriend was spotted at Stamford Bridge watching Chelsea get beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa. Olivia Holder was at the game Saturday, where Palmer got subbed off with 20 minutes left. This comes just after a low-key date at Winter Wonderland, but there wasn't much to celebrate after the loss.

Palmer's new thing

Holder and Palmer reportedly go way back to when they were 17. They first showed up in public together on a fancy vacation last summer. Around Christmas 2025, they were seen at Winter Wonderland—about a year after Palmer took his ex, Connie Grace, there before they broke up last summer. Now, this weekend, she was watching the 23-year-old as Chelsea lost to Villa. Palmer, who used to play for Manchester City, couldn't do much, and he looked ticked off when he got taken out of the game in the 72nd minute.

Coach Enzo Maresca said about that, He was doing great, both with the ball and without it, pressing hard. He was really good. We have another game soon, so it's good he's back and playing well.

Chelsea's foul-up

Chelsea played great for about an hour before Villa turned it around and won. In the first half, Chelsea almost scored twice, while Villa didn't even come close. Maresca said that himself.

Maresca, who watched from the stands because he was suspended after getting three yellow cards, told BBC Match of the Day, "For an hour, until they scored, we were all over them." We were awesome. But after that, things changed. We should have scored two or three more before they tied it up.

In that first hour, you can't say it was about experience. But afterwards, we had problems. Their subs—Watkins, Onana, and Sancho—helped them a bit.

Chelsea's misery, Villa's happiness

Villa's coach, Unai Emery, was happy his team won, especially after how the first half went. Ollie Watkins scored twice, cancelling out Joao Pedro's first goal and pushing Villa's winning streak to 11 games.

Emery said, We stuck to our game plan, but they were amazing in the first half. They had all the control. We couldn't get the ball. We were defending deep and doing okay. They only got one corner, and they scored from it. We had to be passionate and keep fighting. That's what we talked about at halftime. We knew we could play better because they were pushing so hard in the first half.

We were getting better and needed some fresh players with different skills. The guys who came in really made a difference and helped us win.

Villa kills Chelsea's title hopes.

This loss puts Chelsea 13 points behind Arsenal and 10 behind Villa. It looks like Chelsea's out of the title race. Their best bet now is to win a cup and try to get into the Champions League next season.

About Villa's next game against Arsenal, who're leading the league, Emery said, We're going to compete hard. We're not talking about our league goals yet because there are other teams like Liverpool and Chelsea fighting hard for points. We're doing great, winning games, and competing well, but we need to stay aware as we improve.

He said they're not trying to win the title with Arsenal or Manchester City, who are in second place.

There are still 20 games left, he added. It's not over yet.

DID LIAM ROSENIOR’S PAST AS A PUNDIT INFLUENCE HIS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY AT ARSENAL?

Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior hits back at critics after a defensive approach saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup semi-final.

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Liam Rosenior showed too much respect to Arsenal, and it cost Chelsea

Liam Rosenior stood by his cautious approach after Chelsea couldn’t overturn their first-leg deficit against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Down 3-2 from the first match, Chelsea never really put Arsenal under pressure at the Emirates. In the end, Kai Havertz—of all people—put the game to bed in stoppage time, scoring against his old club.

Rosenior switched things up, going with a back three and playing it safe. He wanted to keep the game close and try to push hard late on. He brought on Cole Palmer and Estevao around the 60th minute, hoping for a spark, but Chelsea still couldn’t carve out real chances. Arsenal just wouldn’t budge.

Pundits didn’t love Rosenior’s tactics and let him know it. He brushed it off. “I’ve been a pundit. It’s easy. It’s easy in hindsight,” he said. “If I go all-out and press high, we could give away two early goals, and then everyone asks what I’m thinking. That’s just how it is. Lose, and you’re hammered. Win, and you’re a genius. Usually, it’s somewhere in the middle.”

Chelsea were up against the league leaders, and with both Reece James and Pedro Neto missing due to minor injuries, Rosenior planned to hang in there and try to frustrate Arsenal—and maybe turn the mood in the stadium.

“That was the idea. You saw it,” he said. “I thought the psychological side of the tie mattered, and you could feel it in the stadium too. At 60 minutes, I brought on Cole and Estevao, and suddenly we had some moments around the box. I think people sensed this game could flip.”

It didn’t happen, though. Rosenior said he couldn’t fault his players for their effort, and in the end, Arsenal’s clinching goal came while Chelsea were throwing everything forward, desperate to turn things around.

IS JOãO PEDRO ACTUALLY BETTER THAN LIVERPOOL’S £79M HUGO EKITIKé? THE STATS REVEAL ALL

Liam Rosenior makes history as Chelsea win three in a row! Discover why João Pedro is the Premier League's best summer signing.

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The £60m star is proving to be Chelsea’s best BlueCo signing yet

Since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over Chelsea in 2022, they've been anything but quiet in the transfer market. In just three and a half years, they've signed 54 new senior players and spent well over £1 billion.

Some of these signings haven’t even made it onto the pitch for the first team—guys like Gaga Słonina, Ângelo Gabriel, Omari Kellyman, and Caleb Wiley, just to name a few. But others have really made their mark. Think Marc Cucurella, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and, of course, Cole Palmer. Now, the question is, has one of Chelsea’s latest summer signings done enough to join that group? Is he about to become one of the Premier League’s signings of the season?

Let’s talk about Chelsea’s summer addition and what he’s bringing to the table. It’s been a great week for Liam Rosenior’s squad. On Saturday night, they were 2-0 down at halftime to West Ham at Stamford Bridge. Somehow, they turned it around and won 3-2, with Enzo Fernández scoring in stoppage time to seal it.

That win made it three league victories in a row for Rosenior. He’s now only the fourth English manager to start his Premier League career with three straight wins—joining Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce, and Craig Shakespeare. Not bad company at all.

Just three days earlier, Chelsea booked their spot in the Champions League round of 16 after a wild 3-2 win away at Napoli. Down 2-1, João Pedro scored twice in the second half to turn the game around. The Brazilian’s goal at the weekend kicked off Chelsea’s comeback, bringing his total to 15 goals for the club—including three at the Club World Cup. So, how does he stack up against other strikers who switched clubs last summer?

Looking at the numbers, here’s how the new strikers have done since moving in the summer of 2025:

Hugo Ekitiké (Liverpool, £79m): 15 goals (10 PL, 2 UCL)

João Pedro (Chelsea, £60m): 12 goals (9 PL, 3 UCL)

Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal, £54.8m): 11 goals (6 PL, 4 UCL)

Nick Woltemade (Man United, £69m): 9 goals (7 PL, 1 UCL)

Benjamin Šeško (Man City, £66.3m): 6 goals (5 PL)

Alexander Isak (Newcastle, £125m): 3 goals (2 PL)

Liam Delap (Spurs, £30m): 2 goals (1 PL, 1 UCL)

Only Ekitiké has scored more than João Pedro across all competitions, but Liverpool paid about £20m more for him than Chelsea paid for Pedro. In the whole Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Igor Thiago, Antoine Semenyo, and Ekitiké have more league goals than Pedro’s nine.

But stats aside, Chelsea just look more dangerous with Pedro leading the attack. Their last league defeat? He started that one on the bench at Craven Cottage. Since Rosenior took over, Pedro has started and scored in every match.

Chelsea have brought in plenty of players from Brighton during the BlueCo era, but with the way things are going, João Pedro might end up being the best of the bunch.

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