Ex-Chelsea player Shaun Wright-Phillips believes his former club can challenge for the top four if they begin converting their chances into goals.
The Blues were clinical in the 4-4 draw against Manchester City before the international break, and Wright-Phillips told The Sport Review that Mauricio Pochettino’s side must replicate that performance to improve their position in the Premier League table:
“It’s been good in certain aspects. You can see they have a way of playing now which nobody could really isolate before. They keep the ball a lot better than they had done since Poch is there – and they’re creating loads and loads of chances.”
“As soon as they start converting them, you’d think they’ll be a massive problem to deal with. They showed how well they can play against City – now can they do that time and time again? I think when want to be in the top four, that’s basically what you have to replicate, that performance level of consistency.”
Chelsea have been profligate in front of goal
Pochettino’s men have the third-best xG (26.76) in the league this season, yet they have only scored 21 goals, so Wright-Phillips is right on the money in terms of needing to improve chance conversion.
Whether this group of players are capable of being more clinical on a consistent basis, though, it is an open question.
A new striker may be required to improve Chelsea’s fortunes
Nicolas Jackson has had his fair share of critics, but he has shown glimpses of his true potential in recent weeks, so Pochettino will want to keep faith in him.
However, at the moment, the Senegalese international should not be asked to lead the line on a regular basis for a club that has ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League.
Signing a new No.9 is essential, and it appears as if the Blues have narrowed down the search to Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. You can read our comparison of the two forwards in our article here.
