🔗 Share this article

Striker Liam Delap is returning from a thigh problem at a time of need for Chelsea.

The Blues lost 2-1 against surprise package Sunderland at their home ground on recently, with boss Enzo Maresca blaming "a lack of creativity" and his team's delivery being "below standard".

Chelsea's attackers are having difficulty finding the net and goal contributions as Delap returns in the EFL Cup against bottom-half Wolves on this week (prime time), having sat out 10 fixtures since picking up the problem in the success over Fulham in last month.

Maresca commented the young striker will be phased in "gradually", and the summer signing's return is important for a team facing criticism over their inconsistency, which has left the national tournaments their primary hope of securing honors this campaign.

Delap to Share Load With Joao Pedro

Chelsea brought in Delap from Ipswich Town for a £30 million fee despite attention from Manchester United, Newcastle United and Everton.

Yet the England Under-21s forward was behind expensive recruit Joao Pedro in the team ranking at this global competition - and with good reason.

Joao Pedro registered a trio of strikes in three outings as Chelsea claimed the first edition in the United States. The Brazilian forward added two more goals and three goal contributions in his opening quartet of league fixtures after joining from Brighton.

More recently, however, Joao Pedro has not scored in his last seven games. Maresca said he is one of a trio of players - along with engine room operators Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo - who currently need to be "handled carefully".

When questioned about Joao Pedro's drop in output, Maresca remarked: "Certainly the conditioning element is important. When you are not at peak condition it's hard to perform, particularly in this league."

"Joao Pedro is not a traditional striker that is going to reach twenty strikes annually. Joao's a fantastic player, he's going to find the net and create chances but he's a different kind of nine to players who get 20 to 25 goals every season like [Robert] Lewandowski, [Kylian] Mbappe or the Norwegian goal machine."

Additional Concerns in Chelsea's Offense

Chelsea confront wider issues in addition to their strikers and Joao Pedro's drought.

Forward Cole Palmer has completed two games all season and is not expected return from a groin injury until next month.

Winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, signed from Borussia Dortmund for a £52m package, has no goals and one assist in ten games. Alejandro Garnacho, a £40m recruit from Manchester United, has one score in seven games and forced an own goal against Benfica.

Estevao Willian, eighteen, has entertained since moving from Palmeiras for a potential £51 million deal, but has only two goals and one setup - equaling youth product Tyrique George.

Attacker Marc Guiu and Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte have one goal each.

Marc Cucurella, who got seven from left-back last campaign, is still to score this campaign. Wide man Pedro Neto has a single strike and two assists in his past two matches, but earlier got only one goal in the initial ten fixtures.

After 13 matches in all competitions no attacker has above two scores, with engine room operators Fernandez and Caicedo Chelsea's shared top goalscorers with four goals.

Queried whether a lack of natural goalscorers means goals must come from multiple sources, Maresca commented: "Definitely, yes. We said many times that the front five at the attack, we need six, seven, eight, nine, 10 goals each, in the manner we achieved last term."

Maresca has discovered methods to compete despite goal-scoring variability. Chelsea are runner-up in dead-ball situations in the Premier League, trailing by one Arsenal. In moreover, the Stamford Bridge side are the initial club to have ten distinct net-finders in the Premier League this term.

Is the Number Nine Hoodoo About to Lift?

Some Chelsea supporters feel the number nine shirt - assigned to Delap in the transfer window - is hexed. It had been available since 2023, and players who wore it since the mid-2000s have found scoring difficult, including:

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2022-23) - three strikes in 21 appearances
• Romelu Lukaku (2021-22) - 15 scores in fifty-eight matches
• Tammy Abraham (2019-20, 2021-22) - thirty strikes in eighty-two matches
• Gonzalo Higuain (2018-19) - five strikes in 19 appearances
• Alvaro Morata (2017-18) - twenty-four strikes in 72 appearances
• Radamel Falcao (2015-16) - a single strike in twelve matches
• Fernando Torres (2010-11, 2014-15): forty-five strikes in one hundred seventy-two matches
• Franco di Santo (2008-10) - failed to score in 16 games
• Steve Sidwell (2007-08) - one goal in twenty-five matches
• Khalid Boulahrouz (2006-07) - no goals in twenty matches

A central player and backline player are part of this selection, and some would argue Abraham broke the curse with his performance, while legendary strikers such as Peter Osgood and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thrived with nine on their back.

But Delap was unfazed when asked about the hoodoo. "I'm not one [who believes in curses]," he stated at the global competition.

"At the end of the day it's a digit on the shirt of your uniform. It's just a number that has traditionally been associated to forwards so it's something that I appreciate and there's zero expectation."