Chelsea must now be longing for a swift return to Stamford Bridge in Premier League action.
Indeed, the Blues' push towards the top of the table to challenge Arsenal has stalled after two disappointing performances on the road, with a 3-1 collapse away at Leeds United, followed up by a lacklustre showing on the South Coast to secure a 0-0 draw at AFC Bournemouth.
Cole Palmer for Chelsea
Not even Cole Palmer's re-entry into Enzo Maresca's starting XI could shake Chelsea into life away at the Cherries, as the former Manchester City superstar ended up losing possession a costly 16 times in a drab individual performance.
He was far from being the only underperformer in attack up against Andoni Iraola's hosts, though, as Chelsea now looks at the January transfer window with hope that they can boost their underwhelming options up top.
Chelsea's attacking woes vs Bournemouth
Liam Delap must have thought that grabbing a much-needed Blues goal against Barcelona at the tail-end of November would kickstart his faltering Stamford Bridge spell.
Unfortunately, though, the former Ipswich Town striker remains without a goal in Premier League action for Maresca's men, as the £30m summer recruit hobbled off after just 32 minutes to continue on his ongoing Chelsea nightmare.
liam-delap-chelsea
Neither Marc Guiu nor Joao Pedro could break the deadlock either against a stubborn Cherries defence, with Guiu only managing an unconvincing two shots at the Bournemouth goal from his minimal 25 touches.
Pedro will also have Chelsea punching the panic button at this point, with the bumper £60m signing now goalless across his last four games for Maresca and Co.
Chelsea forward Joao Pedro
It's not the greatest shock in the world, therefore, to read that the frustrated West Londoners are targeting a move for Borussia Dortmund ace Serhou Guirassy in January, with Sky Sports' Gary Neville weighing in after the Blues' disastrous 3-1 loss at Elland Road to say that the attackers Chelsea currently possess are not "of the level" to lift the Premier League title.
However, it's not just in the sole striker spot where grumbles are beginning to emerge, with other pitiful performances on the South Coast giving Maresca plenty of food for thought over what his consistent starting lineup should be.
Chelsea duo must never start together again
The former Leicester City boss would lament his side's indecisive nature in the forward areas at the full-time whistle, with Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho very much not helping proceedings as Chelsea's main options down either flank.
Between them during the 0-0 stalemate, they only completed one of six dribbles, with plenty more unsatisfactory numbers tallied up by the frustrating pairing come the close of the dull affair.
Neto + Garnacho vs Bournemouth
Stat
Minutes played
Goals scored
Assists
Touches
Shots
Accurate passes
Key passes
Accurate crosses
Accurate dribbles
Possession lost
Duels won
Stats by Sofascore
Looking at the table above in detail, it really doesn't make for pretty reading for the number seven and the number 49, with possession given up a high 22 times between them, on top of just one of their combined efforts being hit on target at Dorde Petrovic's goal.
If Chelsea is to instantly respond to this shambolic performance at the Cherries against Atalanta in the Champions League, Maresca will surely have to ditch this duo, with Estevao hopeful of a starting spot in place of Neto on the right, after scoring a stunning effort last time out in Europe's premier competition versus Barcelona.
His constant determination to burst forward with pace and terrorise defenders would be a clear departure from the out-of-sorts offerings from both Neto and Garnacho, with five goals and one assist already tallied up in Chelsea blue by the Brazilian, seeing pundit Pat Nevin hail him as an "utterly brilliant" asset to have around.
Neto does have credit in his bank, arguably, considering he bagged his side's only goal of the game in West Yorkshire, but an injection of freshness could still go down a treat.
Pedro Neto
This might also result in Jamie Gittens getting the nod to start on the left over Garnacho, after successfully completing all 100% of his dribbles versus Leeds as a rare bright spark.
Whatever lineup does end up taking to the field, Maresca will be hoping for an immediate response.
If he wants more energy and excitement from the get-go mid-week, he needs to ensure both Neto and Garnacho don't start together again, after they passively went about their business at Bournemouth.
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