🔗 Share this article

Forward Liam Delap is coming back from a hamstring injury at a crucial moment for Chelsea.

The West London club lost 2-1 against surprise package Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with head coach Enzo Maresca attributing "insufficient imagination" and his team's delivery being "not the best".

Chelsea's attackers are having difficulty finding the net and assists as Delap makes his comeback in the League Cup against struggling Wolves on midweek (prime time), having been absent for 10 matches since suffering the setback in the success over Fulham in the summer.

Maresca said the young striker will be slowly integrated "gradually", and the recent acquisition's comeback is important for a side facing criticism over their unpredictability, which has left the domestic cups their primary hope of claiming silverware this campaign.

Delap to Share Load With Joao Pedro

Chelsea brought in Delap from the Championship side for a £30 million fee despite attention from Manchester United, St James' Park side and the Toffees.

Yet the England Under-21s forward was below £55 million acquisition Joao Pedro in the pecking order at this global competition - and with good reason.

Joao Pedro scored three goals in three outings as Chelsea won the inaugural tournament in the United States. The Seleção attacker added two more goals and three assists in his opening quartet of league fixtures after arriving from Brighton.

More recently, however, Joao Pedro has been goalless in his last seven games. Maresca stated he is one of a trio of players - along with central players Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo - who at the moment demand to be "protected".

When queried about Joao Pedro's drop in output, Maresca said: "For sure the physical part is vital. When you are not at peak condition it's challenging to excel, notably in this division."

"Joao Pedro is not a traditional striker that is going to score 20 goals every season. Joao's a excellent footballer, he's going to get goals and provide assists but he's a alternative type of striker to those who net 20 to 25 goals every season like the Polish striker, the PSG forward or the City striker."

Broader Issues in Chelsea's Attack

Chelsea face wider issues in addition to their forwards and Joao Pedro's scoreless streak.

Winger Cole Palmer has played two full matches all campaign and is not anticipated to feature from a lower body issue until the winter.

Attacking midfielder Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, signed from Borussia Dortmund for a £52m package, has zero strikes and a single assist in ten appearances. Alejandro Garnacho, a £40 million signing from Manchester United, has one score in seven games and caused an own goal against Benfica.

Estevao Willian, 18, has shown promise since joining from Palmeiras for a fee rising to £51m, but has merely two scores and one setup - matching homegrown talent Tyrique George.

Attacker Marc Guiu and loan signing Facundo Buonanotte have one goal each.

Marc Cucurella, who notched seven from full-back last term, is yet to find the net this term. Attacking player Pedro Neto has one score and two assists in his previous two fixtures, but before that found the net just once in the opening ten matches.

After thirteen games in various cups no attacker has over two strikes, with engine room operators Fernandez and Caicedo Chelsea's shared top goalscorers with four goals.

Questioned whether a lack of natural goalscorers means goals must come from multiple sources, Maresca commented: "Absolutely, yes. We repeatedly stated that the five players at the offense, we need six, seven, eight, nine, 10 goals each, in the fashion we managed last season."

Maresca has discovered methods to be competitive despite attacking inconsistency. Chelsea are runner-up in set-piece goals in the top flight, one less than Arsenal. In furthermore, the Blues are the pioneering side to have 10 different scorers in the Premier League this season.

Is the Number Nine Hoodoo About to Lift?

Some Chelsea supporters think the striker's jersey - assigned to Delap in the summer - is hexed. It had been vacant since 2023, and footballers who sported it since the mid-2000s have struggled for goals, including:

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2022-23) - three goals in twenty-one matches
• Romelu Lukaku (2021-22) - fifteen strikes in 58 games
• Tammy Abraham (2019-20, 2021-22) - thirty strikes in 82 appearances
• Gonzalo Higuain (2018-19) - five strikes in 19 games
• Alvaro Morata (2017-18) - twenty-four strikes in 72 appearances
• Radamel Falcao (2015-16) - one goal in twelve matches
• Fernando Torres (2010-11, 2014-15): 45 scores in 172 appearances
• Franco di Santo (2008-10) - no goals in 16 appearances
• Steve Sidwell (2007-08) - one score in 25 games
• Khalid Boulahrouz (2006-07) - zero strikes in 20 games

A engine room operator and backline player are among those listed, and some would suggest Abraham lifted the hoodoo with his record, while legendary strikers such as Peter Osgood and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink flourished with the striker's jersey.

But Delap was unconcerned when questioned about the hoodoo. "I'm not the type of person [who believes in curses]," he commented at the international tournament.

"At the end of the day it's a figure on the jersey of your uniform. It's just a digit that has traditionally been associated to forwards so it's something that I appreciate and there's no pressure."