Chelsea’s Champions League hopes took another hit on Sunday as they scraped a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town in the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca might feel lucky to have even escaped with a point from the Premier League strugglers, as his Chelsea side were 2-0 down by halftime and needed an Axel Tuanzebe own goal and late Jadon Sancho equaliser to get the draw.
It leaves them in sixth, one point outside the Champions League places, and they are still yet to host Liverpool and travel to Newcastle.
Chelsea dominated the encounter with 73.5% of the ball and racked up 34 shots but only managed just over a quarter of them on target – and the stats show that this is part of a wider and more troubling pattern.
Chelsea’s attacking woes could cost them
This is far from the only game hwere the Blue shave proved wasteful this season. They have missed more big chances than any other team in the Premier League and a deeper dive into the stats gives more metrics showing their toothlessness.
The numbers show that clinicality is Chelsea’s problem rather than creativity. They take more shots per 90 minutes than any team except Liverpool, but it’s not paying off in terms of end product. Most damning is their rank for goals minus expect goals, which demonstrates that they are underperforming in front of goal based on the chances they create.
| Chelsea’s performance | Premier League rank | |
| Shots per 90 minutes | 16.4 | 2nd |
| % of shots on target | 33.6 | 11th |
| Goals per shot | 0.1 | 13th |
| Goals minus xG | -6.4 | 16th |
Chelsea looking to fix attacking problem this summer
Some fans believe Enzo Maresca is at fault for some Chelsea attackers’ underperformance, such as Cole Palmer whose numbers have dropped off this season. There are questions over how to best utilise his potential, but for others – like Nicolas Jackson – some are questioning whether the potential is there.
It’s easy to point the finger at Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho (whose loan from Manchester United has largely been viewed as unsuccessful). However, the stats demonstrate that none of Chelsea’s attackers have really been firing on all cylinders, hence why reinforcements are being eyed up for summer.
| xG per 90 mins | Shot on target % | Goals minus xG | |
| Cole Palmer | 0.54 | 35.8 | -1.8 |
| Nicolas Jackson | 0.56 | 43.1 | -3.1 |
| Noni Madueke | 0.44 | 37.7 | -0.9 |
| Jadon Sancho | 0.11 | 27.3 | +1.1 |
Chelsea have been linked to Ipswich striker Liam Delap, who has scored more goals in the league this season than any of the Blues’ attackers except Palmer. It’s also been reported that Chelsea are pursuing Real Betis winger Jesus Rodriguez.
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