Delap Returns as Stamford Bridge Side Aim to Solve Attacking Problems
Attacker Liam Delap is returning from a thigh problem at a important period for Chelsea.
The West London club were beaten 2-1 against shock contenders Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on the weekend, with head coach Enzo Maresca attributing "insufficient imagination" and his side's crossing being "not the best".
Chelsea's forwards are finding it hard to score and assists as Delap makes his comeback in the Carabao Cup against bottom-half Wolves on Wednesday (evening kickoff), having missed 10 games since sustaining the injury in the success over Fulham in the summer.
Maresca said the 22-year-old will be phased in "slowly", and the new recruit's availability is vital for a team facing questions over their mixed results, which has left the national tournaments their best opportunity of securing honors this season.
Delap to Take Pressure Off Joao Pedro
Chelsea acquired Delap from Ipswich Town for a £30 million fee despite attention from the Red Devils, the Magpies and the Toffees.
Yet the Three Lions prospect was second to £55 million acquisition Joao Pedro in the team ranking at this global competition - and with valid cause.
Joao Pedro found the net three times in three appearances as Chelsea claimed the first edition in the America. The Seleção attacker notched additional strikes and three setups in his first four Premier League games after moving from the Seagulls.
More lately, however, Joao Pedro has not scored in his past seven matches. Maresca stated he is one of three players - along with engine room operators Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo - who presently require to be "handled carefully".
When queried about Joao Pedro's decline in performance, Maresca remarked: "Certainly the physical part is important. When you are not fully fit it's hard to perform, notably in this league."
"Joao Pedro is not a traditional striker that is going to net twenty times annually. Joao's a fantastic player, he's going to get goals and provide assists but he's a alternative type of striker to players who get 20 to 25 goals every season like the Polish striker, [Kylian] Mbappe or the Norwegian goal machine."
Additional Concerns in Chelsea's Offense
Chelsea confront additional challenges in addition to their strikers and Joao Pedro's scoreless streak.
Forward Cole Palmer has featured for ninety minutes twice all season and is unlikely to be back from a lower body issue until December.
Wide player Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, acquired from Borussia Dortmund for a potential £52 million deal, has failed to score and a single assist in 10 matches. Alejandro Garnacho, a £40m acquisition from Manchester United, has one score in seven matches and caused an own goal against Benfica.
Estevao Willian, eighteen, has impressed since moving from Palmeiras for a potential £51 million deal, but has merely two scores and a single assist - equaling homegrown talent Tyrique George.
Striker Marc Guiu and loan signing Facundo Buonanotte have one score each.
Marc Cucurella, who scored seven from full-back last term, is without a goal this campaign. Winger Pedro Neto has a single strike and two assists in his previous two fixtures, but prior to that got only one goal in the first 10 games.
After thirteen fixtures in all competitions no forward has more than two goals, with central players Fernandez and Caicedo Chelsea's joint top scorers with four strikes.
Questioned whether a shortage of clinical finishers means duties need distributing, Maresca said: "Absolutely, yes. We frequently mentioned that the quintet of attackers at the attack, we need six, seven, eight, nine, 10 goals each, in the fashion we managed last term."
Maresca has developed approaches to compete despite attacking inconsistency. Chelsea are second place for dead-ball situations in the English top division, one less than Arsenal. In moreover, the Blues are the initial club to have ten various goalscorers in the top flight this term.
Will Chelsea's Number Nine Curse Be Broken?
Some Chelsea fans feel the center-forward number - assigned to Delap in the off-season - is cursed. It had been unoccupied since 2023, and footballers who donned it since 2006 have found scoring difficult, including:
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2022-23) - a trio of scores in 21 appearances
- Romelu Lukaku (2021-22) - 15 goals in fifty-eight matches
- Tammy Abraham (2019-20, 2021-22) - 30 scores in 82 games
- Gonzalo Higuain (2018-19) - five strikes in nineteen matches
- Alvaro Morata (2017-18) - 24 scores in seventy-two matches
- Radamel Falcao (2015-16) - one score in 12 appearances
- Fernando Torres (2010-11, 2014-15): forty-five strikes in 172 games
- Franco di Santo (2008-10) - zero strikes in 16 games
- Steve Sidwell (2007-08) - one score in twenty-five matches
- Khalid Boulahrouz (2006-07) - failed to score in twenty matches
A engine room operator and backline player are included in this group, and some would contend Abraham lifted the hoodoo with his performance, while legendary strikers such as Peter Osgood and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thrived with nine on their back.
But Delap was unmoved when queried about the curse. "I don't believe [who believes in curses]," he said at the Club World Cup.
"At the end of the day it's a number on the back of your shirt. It's just a figure that has historically been connected to strikers so it's something that I appreciate and there's zero expectation."
