Not since the opening game of the season have Chelsea failed to score in the Premier League. And that takes some doing since they’ve rarely had an out-and-out striker at their disposal.
Only Manchester City have scored more than the 23 goals **Enzo Maresca**’s side have amassed from 12 league games, but in contrast to Erling Haaland netting 14 of City’s 24 goals, Chelsea are spreading their goals around.
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were the scorers in Saturday’s 2-0 win away at Burnley, taking the pair to four league goals apiece alongside Joao Pedro. Moises Caicedo has three, Trevoh Chalobah two and six other players have one.
Chelsea’s multi-faceted attack is not reliant on one striker to score — or hostage to one forward’s fluctuating form and fortunes — and having such a variety of threats means opponents must cover all bases.
“I said already since I joined the club that I prefer the five players at the front to score 10, 12 goals each of them, than to have a striker that scores 40 goals,” Maresca said. “For sure, if you have a striker that scores 40 goals, you’re happy.
*“But I like the winger scoring goals, I like the winger giving assists, like today Jamie [Gittens], Enzo right inside the box, Malo [Gusto] the other day right inside the box. So we work on some patterns to also create chances with the attacking player.*”
**Cole Palmer**’s injury absence since late September has deprived Maresca of last season’s top scorer. And although Liam Delap provided a focal point against Burnley, the summer signing is still rediscovering his sharpness in the final third.
The 22-year-old has been limited to five league appearances and remains goalless, but Maresca is not concerned about a shortage of confidence despite Delap spurning chances and exhibiting a skewed radar during a frustrating outing at Turf Moor.
“No doubt that the goal will arrive,” Maresca said, “and the way he worked today was very important. Liam is also that kind of striker that, as a defender, you are always worried when he’s around you, so that’s also good for the team.”
Pressure will grow on Delap to rediscover the instinct that took him to 12 league goals for relegated Ipswich Town last term, but for now he has the likes of Neto being able to offer a helping hand in front of goal.
Neto becoming key player for Maresca
Neto is establishing himself as one of the key players for Maresca. Him stooping at the far post to head home and give Chelsea their breakthrough after Burnley had started brightly only underlined his influence.
The 25-year-old is in fine form. Having scored only once in his first ten games of the season, he now has three goals and two assists in his last five league outings.
Neto was even more of an out-ball down the right for Chelsea in the second half and came close to scoring a second when striking the post with a low effort. He was also involved in the back-to-front move that presented Fernandez with his late goal.
The competition for places in Chelsea’s forward line is intense. Neto and Gittens did themselves no harm by putting forward their cases for starting berths for the upcoming fixtures against Barcelona and Arsenal over the next seven days.
Alejandro Garnacho and Estevao didn’t make it off the bench this time around but will be called upon at some stage as Maresca and his team aim to continue their scoring run and dish out a statement or two.
It’s hard to be certain where Chelsea’s goals are going to come from, but they come all the same.