Cole Palmer walks straight down tunnel after being taken off just 20 minutes into Man Utd clash

Chelsea's Cole Palmer could only shrug his shoulders and give a bemused look as Enzo Maresca hauled him off after 20 minutes against Manchester United. The playmaker grabbing his coat and walking straight down the tunnel.

Palmer was the third Blues player to be subbed off in the opening 20 minutes as their head coach set about changing his entire approach after Robert Sanchez was sent-off after four minutes. He took off Estevao to bring on a new goalkeeper in Filip Jorgensen.

But at the same time ended Pedro Neto's evening and introducing Tosin Adarabioyo. United soon took the lead and were looking dominant with Maresca then choosing to bring off arguably his most influential player - much to Palmer's dismay.

Maresca had hinted that he had several players with fitness issues before this match and Palmer is known to be nursing a groin issue. He was later seen with an ice pack.

Palmer had made a goalscoring return in midweek, notching in the Champions League loss at Bayern Munich. He has been central to much of Chelsea's good work in the final third, but was surprisingly sacrificed at Old Trafford.

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It left Joao Pedro as the only main attacking threat with his three attacking midfielders all withdrawn early on. Chelsea had arrived in Manchester with an unbeaten record for their opening four Premier League games, but that was soon under threat. Making three substitutes inside the opening 20 minutes had never been done before in Premier League history, underlining the extent to which Maresca had overhauled his entire line-up.

Palmer has previously enjoyed some of his best moments against the Red Devils. In his debut season the ex-Manchester City man scored a hat-trick to down United, producing two goals in stoppage time at Stamford Bridge.

Amid all the early changes ex-United man Alejandro Garnacho remained on the bench. He swapped Manchester for Chelsea in the summer after pushing for the exit door.

When asked if the winger is hungry to make an impact on this game, Maresca said: "Absolutely. As he showed against Bayern and Brentford. He can help us. Hopefully we can give him some minutes during today's game."

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