Cole Palmer a must-have asset now his only drawback has been negated by the schedule

HERE at Dream Team HQ we try to avoid overly declarative statements.

But we're happy to brand Cole Palmer (£6.3m) a must-have player for the festive period.

It could be argued that Chelsea's talisman has been essential since Gameweek 1 given he's already racked up 174 points via 11 goals and seven assists this season.

But there was one frustrating drawback that limited his viability throughout the first four months of the campaign — his comparatively relaxed workload.

Enzo Maresca has opted to rotate his squad extensively in the additional competitions to keep his key players fresh for the Premier League.

This strategy has worked superbly so far with the Blues now just two points behind league-leaders Liverpool, albeit having played an extra game.

The likes of Palmer, Nicolas Jackson (£4.2m) and Moises Caicedo (£3.5m) have watched Chelsea's Conference League adventures from the comfort of their sofas, keeping their overall minutes in check.

While this has undoubtedly been beneficial in terms of warding off fatigue, it has meant the West Londoners' star performers have not added points to their tally in midweek.

Hence why Jackson is ranked just 11th among Dream Team strikers despite the fact he's score nine goals in 15 league outings this term.

In fact, the Senegal international averages 8.1 points-per-game, a rate bettered by only Mohamed Salah (£7.6m) and Erling Haaland (£8.4m) among players in his position, but he's outside the top ten in terms of total points because he's only played in the league.

Meanwhile, Kai Havertz (£4.7m), Cody Gakpo (£4.3m), Ollie Watkins (£5.5m) and others have all notched regular points in the Champions League, with Dominic Solanke (£4.2m) having banked 32 points in the Europa League so far.