Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson is a player going through a difficult period right now on the pitch.
That is according to Sky Sport pundit Glenn Murray.
Chelsea booked their spot in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, where they’ll host Newcastle United, after a comfortable victory last night.
The Blues brushed aside Championship club Blackburn Rovers with a 2-0 win at home. Benoit Badiashile and Raheem Sterling were on the scoresheet at Stamford Bridge.
Despite a fairly routine win in the cup fixture, Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has come in for a little bit of stick.
Chelsea struggles
Pundit Glenn Murray did highlight Jackson as the only real negative from Chelsea’s win over Blackburn on Wednesday evening.
“The only disappointment for Chelsea is they’ve not got Jackson on the scoresheet. He still looks a striker lacking in confidence,” Murray told Sky Sports (9:20pm, 1 November).
He did get another opportunity to lead the line as Chelsea’s starting centre-forward, playing 76 minutes.
We saw most his good work against Blackburn come when dropping deep or holding the ball up. However, people are judging him on what he does around the penalty box, which was very little in his midweek display.
Nicolas Jackson dilemma
Speaking via the Evening Standard earlier this week, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino reiterated his belief that Jackson will come good despite a difficult period.
How much longer can we afford to start him, though?
Jackson’s shown glimpses of real quality during his debut Chelsea season, scoring three goals in 12 games. However, it’s hard to make a strong case for him to be in the starting XI when you look at his form in the last couple of matches.
We think there’s a big dilemma going into Monday night’s trip to in-form Tottenham in the Premier League.
It wouldn’t surprise us to see either Cole Palmer or Sterling start in a false-nine position against Spurs.
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