How do you stop a player like Cole Palmer? With the numbers he’s putting up in Chelsea blue, the answer - it would seem - is that you can’t.

However, many teams are desperately trying to keep the England international quiet when they face Enzo Maresca’s side, with Manchester United the next to come up against Palmer and Chelsea when the Blues visit Old Trafford later today [4.30pm kick-off].

With sides considering whether to back off the attacker or get tight to him and mark man to man, Maresca had some words of wisdom for the Manchester native when reflecting on Palmer’s fine form in Friday’s pre-match press conference at Cobham.

‘I said in the last press conference that the next step for Cole is to not allow himself to get frustrated when teams look to mark him man to man,’ Maresca explained ahead of today’s clash in Palmer’s hometown of Manchester.

‘If it happens, he should see it as a compliment because all the best players in the world are marked man to man.

‘If you think about when he arrived at Chelsea last season, he probably wasn’t as well known as he is now so maybe teams were not so worried about him at that stage.

‘This year, for sure teams are worried about Cole because of what he did last season and now he has to get used to being marked man to man.

‘This is the next step for him, know that it will be more difficult and dealing with these situations. I have no doubt he will be able to do this because he’s such a special player.’

While Maresca arrived at Chelsea in the summer from Leicester, Manchester United have decided to make a change in their dugout at this stage of the season with Ruben Amorim joining from Sporting Lisbon to replace Erik ten Hag.

Amorim won’t be in charge of the Red Devils for today’s game, with him officially taking charge on November 11, and Maresca’s close friend and former Malaga team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy at the helm this afternoon.

Nevertheless, Maresca is a fan of Amorim’s work in the Portuguese capital and has backed him to have a positive impact at Old Trafford when he begins his post.

‘I don’t know him personally but I have watched many games of his Sporting side,’ Enzo said of United’s incoming head coach.

‘They played in a fantastic way, both in the way the defend and the way they attack. In both phases of the game, they are very good.

‘So for sure, I don’t have any doubt that he will come in at Manchester United and do a great job there also.

‘I think he will do a great job on the football side, but of course it’s a big challenge moving from Portugal to England so it will be something for him to adapt to.

‘In terms of football, it’s clear he’s a very talented manager who I’m sure will do very good things with Manchester United.’