Palmer suffered a groin injury in the away loss to Man United on September 20. He returned on 3 December, in the Leeds United home game, but only played for about 30 minutes.
Chelsea have controlled Palmer's playing time, allowing the creative player to start in the last two Premier League games against Bournemouth and Everton. In the win over Everton, Palmer scored his first goal, opening the victory for his team.
After going through both matches without any injuries - and not being with the team until the win over Cardiff City in the League Cup in midweek - Palmer has a chance to play at St James' Park, when Chelsea will visit Newcastle. Enzo Maresca believes Chelsea's number 10 is now ready to play the full 90 minutes.
The Chelsea head coach said: "He is completely ready to play the whole match. Palmer has played 60 minutes twice, so he can play more minutes, whether it is 70 or 90 minutes, depending on the game.
Palmer was Chelsea's most important player last season. But this season, he has been injured and has missed many matches. Statistics show that Palmer has only scored 3 goals in 7 appearances since the beginning of the season. Palmer's return is considered very important for Chelsea at the present stage.
Chelsea will also be boosted at St James' Park thanks to the return of Moises Caicedo after suspension. The Ecuador midfielder missed Chelsea's previous three Premier League games due to a red card against Arsenal.
Enzo Fernandez could also return to the starting lineup after missing the midweek game against Cardiff, despite the Argentine being a Chelsea substitute in the League Cup.
The use of midfield personnel is a matter of concern for Chelsea, especially in the context of a very tight upcoming schedule. According to Enzo Maresca, Caicedo, despite being suspended for 3 matches, has played many previous matches.
Currently, I dont think we have a worthy replacement for Enzo. We have Andrey Santos, but Andrey is more inclined to the number 6 position, Caicedo's position, not Enzo's. Caicedo is also playing a lot because unfortunately we have Romeo (Lavia) and Dario (Essugo) absent at the same time, said Enzo Maresca.
The Newcastle vs Chelsea match will take place at 19:30 on December 20. This is a match that promises to be very difficult for Chelsea.
