During Chelsea's 2-1 win over West Ham United earlier this week, two of the teams striker options both went down with injuries. Nicholas Jackson and Mark Guiu both suffered injuries at different times with Jackson being replaced midway through the second-half by the aforementioned
Guiu.
Jackson appeared to hurt his hamstring in an awkward fall and Guiu looked to have hurt either his groin or knee at the end of an attacking move in stoppage time of the second-half. Chelsea has shipped out some of its attacking options such as Joao Felix in the transfer window so they are short on choices if either player was to miss significant time.
Manager Enzo Maresca shared good news in that both players told him they would be OK but we won’t know the full extent of their injuries until later in the week. If they do both miss some time, whether significant or brief, this opens the door for forward Christopher Nkunku to lead the line for the Blues.
Nkunku has been disgruntled this year, bemoaning his lack of opportunities and was pining for an exit to Bayern Munich in the January transfer window which never materialized due to the club’s asking price. He has primarily been used in the club’s European fixtures and has made just three starts in the Premier League.
The French forward has been productive in other competitions with five goals in the Europa Conference League and four goals in the FA Cup and EFL Cup combined. He also has 2 goals and an assist to his name in the Premier League but that is a small return for a player of his caliber and goal-scoring history.
They say the best ability is availability and Nkunku has struggled in that department having missed much of the 2023-24 season due to injury. He may well now be the only available striker for Chelsea if both Jackson and Guiu are out for this weekend’s clash against Brighton in the FA Cup.
Maresca may get creative and deploy youngster Tyrique George, primarily a winger, as his center forward or could go with a false-nine option in Cole Palmer. Ironically he could have used the recently departed Felix as his striker as the Portuguese forward has been deployed there in the past.
The most natural replacement for either Jackson or Guiu is of course Nkunku and he could do with some match time to build up his confidence and fitness. We know he is capable of banging in goals given his 20 and 16 goal Bundesliga seasons with RB Leipzig and his bullying of lesser competition in the Conference League. With these niggling injuries and a much thinner squad than Chelsea had just a week ago, now would be a perfect time for Nkunku to rediscover his goalscoring form.