Chelsea underwhelmed in their 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace in the first game of the new Premier League campaign.
The Blues arrived full of confidence after convincing pre-season wins against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan last weekend.
However, the Stamford Bridge crowd soon realised that it would not be an easy victory against Palace.
Chelsea were even lucky not to go 1-0 down in the first half as Eberechi Eze’s free-kick was controversially disallowed by VAR.
The second half was much better, as Enzo Maresca’s side dominated the ball, but it was still not enough to find a winner.
One statistic shows that the Blues boss made a key mistake with his team selection for the game against Palace.
Liam Delap celebrates during Chelsea v AC Milan - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Key stat shows Enzo Maresca made Liam Delap mistake vs Crystal Palace
The biggest decision Maresca had to make before the match was whether to start Joao Pedro or Liam Delap up front.
He picked Pedro in his starting eleven and only replaced him with Delap for the last 20 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
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This decision turned out to be the wrong one as Pedro was physically outmatched by Palace’s back three throughout the game.
With Palace holding a deep defensive line, crosses into the box were the main avenue for chance creation.
However, the Blues completed just six (21%) of 29 attempted crosses against Palace, failing to make the most of any opportunities.
Delap would have offered far more physicality to Chelsea’s attack and stood a much better chance of winning some aerial duels in the penalty area.
Joao Pedro celebrates during Chelsea v AC Milan - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Joao Pedro and Liam Delap can play together in Chelsea XI
Starting Delap in the striker position would not necessarily have meant dropping Pedro, who has been in fine goalscoring form this summer.
The former Brighton attacker could have played on the left wing instead of fellow new signing Jamie Gittens.
Considering Gittens struggled to make an impression on the game, this may have been a two-fold positive change.
Chelsea will travel to West Ham on Friday, and Graham Potter’s side are also likely to play three central defenders, so Delap up front might be the way forward.