Chelsea slumped to an embarrassing defeat at home to Sunderland at the weekend, and former Arsenal star Paul Merson believes that the Blues are severely missing a star player who is out injured at the moment.
Enzo Maresca’s team fell to a 2-1 defeat at home despite naming a strong side that featured the likes of Reece James, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the starting XI.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s talisman, Cole Palmer, continues to remain sidelined as he nurses a hamstring injury that has troubled him since the start of the season.
The England international’s goals and creativity have been severely lacking in recent weeks at Stamford Bridge.
However, Merson believes that there is one player who Chelsea are missing more than Palmer at this point.
Liam Delap has been ruled out with a hamstring injury since gameweek 3, and Merson believes that the team could well do with his return at this point.
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Paul Merson believes that Chelsea are missing Liam Delap
In the absence of Liam Delap, Joao Pedro has filled the void by leading the line for Chelsea.
However, the Brazilian seems to be more effective while playing in a deeper role for the team.
Liam Delap
Getty
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Merson believes Chelsea are desperately missing the presence of Delap, noting how Marc Guiu did not take his chance in his first Premier League start for the Blues against Sunderland.
He said to Sky Sports, “They [Chelsea] need Delap back badly, they need a focal point. Guiu played up front and I think he touched the ball nine, 10 times. You can’t do that in a team that are supposed to be dominating the ball.”
It's hard to disagree with Merson’s assessment of Chelsea’s striker situation at the moment. But the good news from a Chelsea perspective is that Delap’s return is imminent.
Maresca had confirmed last week that the English striker had returned to training and is expected to return to action in the upcoming Carabao Cup game against Wolves this week.
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