Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer will not feature in the Blues’ Carabao Cup quarter-final against Cardiff City, head coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed.

The match is set for Tuesday at 8 pm in the Welsh capital, with a place in the semi-finals at stake.

Palmer recently returned to action after a spell out with groin and toe injuries and scored in Chelsea’s weekend victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge.

However, Maresca, in his press conference on Monday, explained that the young forward is being carefully managed to avoid overexertion.

“I’ve already said many times in press conferences that we have many players who need to be protected. Cole is one of the players who deserves to be protected right now.

The Chelsea coach also praised Cardiff City and their manager, Brian Murphy, highlighting the challenge the Blues will face:

“They are top of the league, playing nice football and winning games. I know Brian and know he is doing a good job. This will be a dangerous game for us, and we need to pay attention and be careful tomorrow. We have the opportunity to achieve something important, which is to reach the semi-final of this competition.”

Chelsea will hope to progress to the last four while keeping key players fresh for the Premier League schedule.

Chelsea ended their four-game winless streak in the Women’s Super League with a comfortable 3-0 away victory against Brighton.

A stunning individual goal from Sandy Baltimore in the 42nd minute rewarded Chelsea’s first-half dominance, before a Caitlin Hayes own-goal and an Alyssa Thompson strike put the game beyond Brighton.

Chelsea came into the match following a first WSL defeat in 34 games and three consecutive draws before that, leaving the defending champions six points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley – standing in for Chiamaka Nnadozie who had a concussion – frustrated Chelsea by tipping a Baltimore volley over the crossbar before blocking Thompson’s diving header, while Keira Walsh hit the post with a long-range drive.

But French winger Baltimore showed her quality when she drove forwards on the left flank, cut inside past a defender and curled a right-footed shot into the far top corner.

Sonia Bompastor brought on Sam Kerr at the break and the Australian striker had a near-instant impact – it was her lurking presence in the box that left Brighton defender Hayes with no choice but to head into her own goal from a driven Erin Cuthbert cross.

Chelsea looked their old selves from that point on as Wieke Kaptein then Kerr forced Baggaley into smart saves in quick succession.

Brighton boss Dario Vidosic brought on former Chelsea forward Fran Kirby in the second half, but the hosts could not find a way back into the contest.

Thompson wrapped up victory in the 73rd minute by converting first-time from Kerr’s low cross, her third goal in her past four WSL outings.

Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal into second place in the table but remain six points behind leaders Manchester City, who beat Aston Villa 6-1 on Sunday. Brighton remain seventh with 14 points.

Are Chelsea back? With a month until their next WSL game, it was important they showed the kind of quality and ruthlessness that saw them win six consecutive league titles and complete last season unbeaten.

Earlier this week Bompastor said she did not feel her switch to a back four had caused Chelsea’s dip in attacking output, but on Sunday she reverted to the three defender and wing-backs system Chelsea began the season with.

Wing-backs Ellie Carpenter and Baltimore were constant threats on either side, even if it did take their team-mates a while to find the right passes to feed their runs.

Wayward finishing and sloppy final balls cost Chelsea goals early on, but Baltimore’s moment of brilliance meant the visitors weren’t under pressure to score after the break.

That seemed to have a freeing effect, as Chelsea attacked with greater fluidity and efficiency thereafter.

Kerr’s introduction at the start of the second half gave Chelsea a focal point and presence that Aggie Beever-Jones didn’t offer – her failure to gamble on Lauren James’ early low cross was a case in point.

Brighton had Baggaley’s six saves to thank for keeping the score respectable, though they did spurn a couple of half-chances on the break when Chelsea left bodies up the field. That’s something for Bompastor to try and snuff out.

Captain Virgil van Dijk said Liverpool “are absolutely united and go forward as one” after Mohamed Salah returned to the squad for Saturday’s win over Brighton.

Salah came off the bench for his first Liverpool appearance since claiming after last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Leeds that he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club.

The 33-year-old was left out of the squad for the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan, but returned for the Brighton game following talks with manager Arne Slot – and claimed an assist in the 2-0 win.

Salah joins up with the Egypt national team for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) on Monday and could miss up to eight Liverpool games if his country go all the way to the final on 18 January.

“We showed this week that we are absolutely united. We go forward as one,” said Van Dijk, who made his 250th Premier League appearance for Liverpool on Saturday.

“Mo is going to Afcon and we all hope that he’ll be successful there and he’ll come back and be important for us for the rest of the season.

“The other side of it is that we all know football and we have no idea what is going to happen. I hope that he stays because he is one of my leaders and still very important for the football club. But there’s more parties to this situation.”

Van Dijk also praised Slot for how he handled the events of recent days, with Liverpool now unbeaten in five games since losing to PSV at Anfield in the Champions League.

“I think he has handled the situation very well – calm in his own way and it’s a very tricky situation,” said the Netherlands defender.

“There’s a lot of noise and pressure from the outside world and rightly so because we’ve not been up to the standard we’ve shown in the last few seasons.

“We’ve just got to keep going. He’s at a club which is very together and that’s how it has been before our time at the club, and that’s something we have to keep going.

“We go through the good times together, as a team, as a club and as a fanbase, but sometimes when the difficult moments arise we also have to stick together. This moment of time is a very good moment to see how everyone responds.”