In terms of results, things have gone swimmingly for Chelsea this season. They have won two of their first three Premier League games, drawing the other one. And if Andrey Santos and Estevao had taken their chances, they could have gotten themselves a win against Crystal Palace as well. They sit second in the table as things stand after three matchdays. That does not mean that the Blues do not have their fair share of problems at the moment though.
On the contrary, Chelsea have some major issues to deal with. One of them has to be the injury situation with multiple key players out on the sidelines.
One of them is Liam Delap, who was injured in Chelsea's last game against Fulham. Initially, the hope was that he would be back in six to eight weeks. But as it turns out, the injury is worse than first thought.
The rumours had been doing the rounds for a while and now, it has been officially confirmed. As reported by ESPN, Enzo Maresca said while speaking on a news conference:
"Liam I think is around 10-12 weeks [out] so a long way to go."
Enzo Maresca officially confirms bad news for Chelsea
Delap has arrived at Chelsea this summer from Ipswich Town. And while we never saw him at his best, the Englishman's role was certainly starting to grow before the injury.
It also leaves Chelsea very light on options going into a tough fixture schedule. Joao Pedro has done brilliantly so far, scoring in all but one of his starts in blue. That being said, one cannot expect him to be playing 90 minutes twice a week for the next three months.
Chelsea have brought back Marc Guiu, cancelling his loan stint at Sunderland. One can only hope that the former Barcelona man is able to step up to the plate.
The opportunity is there to give Shim Mheuka a role in the squad as well. He has been in top goalscoring form at the youth levels in recent times for both club and country. And although he is just 17 years of age, perhaps it is time that we see what he is capable of at the senior level. Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi were already starters for Barcelona at this point. So, why can't Chelsea give him a proper chance? He has made five appearances for Maresca's team already.