Article body analysed
By LEWIS BROWNING, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 16: 39 AEST, 9 August 2025 | Updated: 16: 39 AEST, 9 August 2025 4 View comments A former Liverpool defender clashed with Chelsea's Cole Palmer in Chelsea's first pre-season friendly of the summer following a heavy tackle. The Blues were back in action on Friday evening for the first time since they won the Club World Cup earlier in the summer, taking on Bayern Leverkusen in a friendly match just a week out from the start of the Premier League season. It was a comfortable victory for Enzo Maresca's side, who won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to Estevao and Joao Pedro. They will also face Milan on Sunday. But it didn't come without concern. There were a few familiar faces in the Leverkusen ranks in the game, including former Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken and ex-Southampton and Burnley man Nathan Tella. Perhaps the most recognisable to Premier League fans, however, was former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah, who departed Anfield to join the German outfit for £35million this summer. And he certainly made himself known to Palmer during the game went he went in heavy on his England team-mate, causing an injury concern and a mini-scuffle. Jarell Quansah with a very late challenge to Cole Palmer which lead to a coming together? pic. twitter. com/r IB79Xnw20 A former Liverpool star clashed with Cole Palmer after a heavy tackle during Chelsea's friendly on Friday evening Jarell Quansah went in heavy on the midfielder as the Blues won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge Palmer screamed in pain before getting up to confront the former Liverpool defender Quansah, who left the Reds for £35million in the summer, has been involved in England squads alongside Palmer recently Palmer had just picked up the ball in midfield, with defender Malo Gusto playing him a pass, but took a heavy touch and a pressing Quansah sensed an opportunity to win the ball. Palmer, though, recovered, and got to the ball first, passing it on to try and keep play ticking over. Quansah had already committed, however. The defender slid in, and Palmer immediately raised his left foot as he screamed out in pain, falling to the floor and almost onto Quansah as the referee blew their whistle. As the two players got back to their feet, Quansah tried to continue with play, but Palmer had obviously taken issue to the incident, and approached Quansah from behind and grabbed his back. The former Liverpool man took exception, pushing Palmer as his opponent clung onto his shirt. The likes of Moises Caicedo then ran into break up the situation, with Quansah, who has been involved in England squads under both Thomas Tuchel and Gareth Southgate recently, booked over the incident. It's now just a matter of days until Chelsea play their first game of the season, with Enzo Maresca's men set to take on Crystal Palace in their season opener next Sunday. It remains to be seen how prepared they will be after only returning for pre-season training last week, but they had no issues dispatching the Bundesliga runners-up in the capital on Friday.
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd