Arsenal ran riot against their London rivals on Tuesday evening to put pressure on Manchester City in the title race. Leandro Trossard set the tone for the match when opening the scoring after four minutes, with Chelsea squandering several chances to equalise before halftime.

Second-half braces from Kai Havertz and Ben White then heaped the embarrassment on the Blues, and Mikel Arteta’s side certainly had their fair share of changes to improve their goal difference further against the leaky Chelsea backline.

Pochettino’s pre-match comments about Palmer therefore left many bemused as the display provided further evidence that his team are reliant on the ex-Manchester City star. Speaking on Monday, the former Tottenham manager said: “It is a good challenge if Palmer is not available tomorrow. It’s a good challenge for his teammates or those in a similar position.

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“If I were them, I would be motivated to go there tomorrow and show that this is Chelsea Football Club, not Cole Palmer Football Club.” However, the Blues looked lost without the England international and lacked a creative spark and cutting edge in the final third.

West Ham star Antonio laughed at how the 48 hours panned out when speaking on The Footballer’s Football Podcast, saying: “What is crazy is the gaffer comes out and saying Cole Palmer FC, and then he gets ill, and this 5-0, it can’t be written any better than that.

Fulham playmaker Cairney then revealed that he felt Pochettino’s remarks may not have been the most inspiring for the team, with the midfielder adding: “I’m surprised he said that in his pre-match thing anyway to be fair. Are we Cole Palmer FC? I don’t think you can say that anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Pep (Guardiola) say when he had (Lionel) Messi, we’re just a Messi team.”

Chelsea will be hoping to bounce back to form against high-flying Aston Villa this weekend, and if Palmer is fit enough to make his mark on the contest then questions will certainly be raised about where the team would be in the table without the brilliance of the 21-year-old.