After their win against Burnley and Manchester City's loss at the hands of Newcastle United, Chelsea are now second in the Premier League. And when they take on Arsenal next week at Stamford Bridge, they have a chance to make a real title race out of this. Of course, that is easier said than done. Cole Palmer remains out injured and this was not a brilliant performance from Enzo Maresca's side by any stretch of the imagination.
Ultimately, they did have enough in the tank to win against a relegation contender away from home. Three points are what matter more than anything else. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were the two goalscorers on the day, as they have often been in the absence of Palmer, stepping up to the plate in recent weeks.
There are also those who have struggled to find the back of the net, even though it is pretty much in their job description. Liam Delap certainly falls under that category.
He has scored only once for Chelsea since joining in the summer. And that was against ES Tunis at the Club World Cup. Of course, he had his spell out injured. But even then, one goal in 13 games is not a record you expect from someone the club shelled out £30 million to sign.
'Selfish' - Chelsea player slammed for what he did vs Burnley
The pressure might be getting to Delap as well. And it might be affecting some of his decision-making.
Many felt that he was selfish on more than one occasion in the game against Burnley. As reported by Metro, Michael Owen told Premier League productions while highligting a moment when Delap chose to shoot instead of passing the ball to Neto:
"I do think in this situation he needs to be a little bit more unselfish, he probably could have passed it a couple of times.
‘If he plays this ball in [to Pedro Neto] and makes a run to take the defender away, he will leave Neto with a one-on-one in this area. I think he’s got to do that instead of being a bit selfish and thinking he’s going to score a goal on his own. He takes a pot-shot from 25 yards and it’s not great"
Unfortunately, that was not the only such situation in the game either. He made a good run in the second half and could have gotten Enzo Fernandez one-on-one with the Burnley goalkeeper if he had played a square pass. But once again, he did not.
It feels like he either needs to be more aware of his surroundings or be less worried about the lack of goals. One can only hope that they will eventually come. But at the moment, he is not helping the team by trying to find it when others are in better positions to score.
From what we have seen, it is unlikely that Chelsea will go out and sign a striker in January. But if they are in a title race by that point and do not fade away over the festive period, then that should definitely be a consideration. You are not going to win the league with a striker that has one goal in 13 games. You simply won't.