Chelsea’s Liam Delap returns from injury as the club battles poor attacking form and seeks to end its number nine goal-scoring curse.
Chelsea striker Liam Delap is set to return from a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash against Wolves, offering relief to manager Enzo Maresca, whose side has struggled for attacking consistency.
Delap, 22, has missed 10 matches since sustaining the injury in August but will be reintroduced “gradually,” Maresca confirmed. The England U21 international’s return comes after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, which the manager blamed on “a lack of creativity” and poor crossing.
Despite signing multiple attacking talents this season, including Joao Pedro, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, and Alejandro Garnacho, no Chelsea forward has scored more than two goals in 13 matches across all competitions. Midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo remain joint top scorers with four goals each.
Delap, who joined from Ipswich for £30m, will look to revive Chelsea’s front line amid growing talk of the club’s long-running “number nine curse.” Asked about it, Delap said, “I’m not the type of person [who believes in curses]. At the end of the day, it’s a number on the back of your shirt.”