Chelsea’s 0-0 draw with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday was not the worst result.
The Cherries have become a good side under Andoni Iraola and Chelsea managed to make up some ground on Arsenal following their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
Cole Palmer was also able to start the match, being named in Enzo Maresca’s first XI for the first time since returning from injury.
Did Cole Palmer look a bit rusty?
| Cole Palmer’s stats vs Bournemouth | Total |
| Minutes | 58 |
| xG | 0.08 |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Accurate passes | 26/38 (68%) |
| Crosses (accurate) | 1 (0) |
| Total shots | 1 |
| Touches | 49 |
| Dribbles (successful) | 3 (2) |
However, there were still more negatives than positives, including Liam Delap’s shoulder injury.
- READ MORE: Alejandro Garnacho left in disbelief after one moment during Chelsea’s draw with Bournemouth
Centre-forward position a problem for Chelsea again
According to Maresca, Delap’s shoulder injury is “quite bad”, with the 22-year-old being forced off during the game because of it. Even before that, though, the striker position was starting to become an issue for Chelsea again.
Delap has not convinced since recovering from a hamstring problem he sustained earlier in the season, while Joao Pedro has been quite inconsistent.
The Brazilian has scored just four goals in 15 Premier League appearances this term, while he has also been used in the No.10 position at times.
At the Club World Cup, Pedro was on fire, netting three times in three outings as Chelsea went on to win the tournament. However, supporters have not seen the kind of finishes that the 24-year-old was producing in America in England.
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Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Marc Guiu did not convince at all in the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth
Interestingly, it was Marc Guiu who replaced Delap at the Vitality Stadium when the England Under-21 international had to come off, not Pedro.
The No.9 position has been an issue at Stamford Bridge for years, but Pedro looked to have finally solved it after his showing at the Club World Cup.
Looking at how the Bournemouth draw played out, though, Chelsea are back to square one. Despite spending £90m on two proven Premier League strikers in Pedro (£60m) and Delap (£30m), centre-forward remains a problem for the Blues.
Emanuel Emegha unlikely to solve issue
Maresca will have another No.9 to turn to when Emanuel Emegha arrives at Stamford Bridge next summer.
Emegha has agreed to join Chelsea from their sister club Strasbourg. He was recently suspended by the Ligue 1 outfit for some recent comments, but his goal record there is pretty good.
This season, the Dutchman has scored seven goals in 11 appearances across all competitions.
You cannot overlook the fact that Emegha is still only 22 and has never played in the Premier League, though.
The likelihood is that the Netherlands international will not be the answer to Chelsea’s problems, at least not straight away.
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