🔗 Share this article Delap Makes Comeback as Chelsea Look to Address Striker Issues Liam Delap found the net for Chelsea at the Club World Cup during the warm season Attacker Liam Delap is recovering from a muscle issue at a time of need for Chelsea. The Stamford Bridge outfit suffered a 2-1 defeat against shock contenders Sunderland at their stadium on the weekend, with head coach Enzo Maresca attributing "limited inventiveness" and his side's crossing being "below standard". Chelsea's strikers are having difficulty finding the net and assists as Delap makes his comeback in the League Cup against lowly Wolves on this week (19:45 GMT), having sat out 10 fixtures since suffering the setback in the 2-0 win over Fulham in last month. Maresca stated the emerging talent will be slowly integrated "carefully", and the recent acquisition's availability is crucial for a side facing questions over their inconsistency, which has left the domestic cups their primary hope of claiming silverware this campaign. Delap to Ease Burden On Joao Pedro Delap (on the left) and Joao Pedro joined Chelsea this summer for a combined £85m Chelsea signed Delap from Ipswich Town for £30m despite interest from Old Trafford club, Newcastle United and Goodison Park team. Yet the England Under-21s forward was below £55 million acquisition Joao Pedro in the selection hierarchy at this summer's Club World Cup - and with good reason. Joao Pedro registered a trio of strikes in three matches as Chelsea claimed the first edition in the United States. The Brazilian forward notched additional strikes and three goal contributions in his initial four top-flight matches after arriving from Brighton. More lately, however, Joao Pedro has failed to score in his past seven matches. Maresca revealed he is one of three players - along with engine room operators Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo - who presently require to be "handled carefully". When questioned about Joao Pedro's dip in form, Maresca said: "Certainly the physical part is crucial. When you are not fully fit it's hard to perform, notably in this competition." "Joao Pedro is not a traditional striker that is going to score 20 goals every season. Joao's a superb talent, he's going to find the net and provide assists but he's a distinctive forward to players who get 20 to 25 goals each year like the Bayern legend, [Kylian] Mbappe or the Norwegian goal machine." Broader Issues in Chelsea's Offense Chelsea deal with additional challenges beyond their attackers and Joao Pedro's scoreless streak. Winger Cole Palmer has completed two games all season and is unlikely to be back from a groin injury until December. Attacking midfielder Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, signed from Borussia Dortmund for a fee rising to £52m, has failed to score and one assist in ten appearances. Alejandro Garnacho, a £40m recruit from Manchester United, has a single strike in seven games and caused an own goal against Benfica. Estevao Willian, eighteen, has entertained since joining from Palmeiras for a £51m package, but has just two strikes and a single assist - paralleling youth product Tyrique George. Striker Marc Guiu and Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte have one score each. Marc Cucurella, who got seven from left-back last campaign, is without a goal this season. Attacking player Pedro Neto has one goal and two setups in his last two games, but before that got only one goal in the initial ten fixtures. After thirteen fixtures in various cups no forward has more than two goals, with engine room operators Fernandez and Caicedo Chelsea's equal leading marksmen with four strikes. Asked whether a shortage of clinical finishers means duties need distributing, Maresca said: "Absolutely, yes. We said many times that the five players at the offense, we need six, seven, eight, nine, 10 goals each, in the way we have done last campaign." Maresca has developed approaches to challenge despite offensive unpredictability. Chelsea are runner-up in set-piece goals in the English top division, one behind Arsenal. In addition, the West London club are the pioneering side to have 10 different scorers in the top flight this campaign. Is the Number Nine Hoodoo About to Lift? Khalid Boulahrouz was goalless while sporting the number nine for Chelsea Some Chelsea fans think the number nine shirt - taken by Delap in the off-season - is hexed. It had been vacant since last year, and squad members who sported it since the mid-2000s have had goal droughts, including: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2022-23) - three strikes in twenty-one matches Romelu Lukaku (2021-22) - 15 goals in 58 appearances Tammy Abraham (2019-20, 2021-22) - thirty strikes in eighty-two matches Gonzalo Higuain (2018-19) - five scores in nineteen matches Alvaro Morata (2017-18) - 24 goals in seventy-two matches Radamel Falcao (2015-16) - one score in 12 appearances Fernando Torres (2010-11, 2014-15): 45 goals in 172 appearances Franco di Santo (2008-10) - failed to score in 16 games Steve Sidwell (2007-08) - a single strike in 25 appearances Khalid Boulahrouz (2006-07) - no goals in 20 appearances A central player and backline player are part of this selection, and some would contend Abraham lifted the hoodoo with his performance, while famous attackers such as Peter Osgood and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink excelled with the striker's jersey. But Delap was unconcerned when queried about the curse. "I'm not one [who believes in curses]," he commented at the Club World Cup. "At the end of the day it's a figure on the jersey of your uniform. It's just a figure that has historically been connected to strikers so it's something that I enjoy and there's zero expectation."