Maresca must now drop 5/10 Chelsea dud who won zero duels

Whilst there were goals aplenty involving the other Premier League sides dotted around London on Sunday, Brentford versus Chelsea would unfortunately produce a 0-0 stalemate.

Enzo Maresca’s side did manage to amass 21 shots on the Bees net, however, but wasteful finishing throughout would be their downfall, with the goal-shy Blues only registering three goals now across their last five clashes in all competitions.

Off the back of another drab showing – this time against Thomas Frank’s men – Maresca’s ever-thinning confidence with Christopher Nkunku could now be at an all-time low, with the former RB Leipzig attacker hooked off at the half-time interval after a dire first 45 minutes.

Nkunku’s performance in numbers

The ex-Leicester City boss must have regretted pushing the hot-and-cold Frenchman back into the first-team spotlight, having gone with an alternative face in Nicolas Jackson up top last time out as Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0.

Only firing home three Premier League goals all season long, Nkunku would squander one big chance during his brief stint on the Gtech pitch, with a goal finding the back of the net coming against the run of play arguably, as the Bees fashioned a whole host of opportunities courtesy of Bryan Mbeumo and Co.

Away from this one missed effort, however, Nkunku was largely anonymous with just 22 touches of the ball tallied up before he was put out of his misery at the half-time break.

Moving forward, Maresca will surely persist with Jackson as his main marksman over the 27-year-old, but he could also begin to feel short on patience when it comes to one of Nkunku’s attacking teammates, despite the attacker in question only just recovering from an injury issue.

Madueke’s performance in numbers

Alongside Maresca changing up the look of his starting XI to accommodate for Nkunku, the Italian also gifted Noni Madueke the start at Brentford, with the Barnet-born ace now presumably free of his hamstring concern.

Unlike Nkunku, Madueke has regularly impressed Chelsea fans this season in the demanding Premier League, with the former PSV Eindhoven winger up to ten goal contributions alone in the top-flight.

Still, as the table above illuminates, everyone is prone to an off-day.

Indeed, the below-par 23-year-old would only manage to muster up one effort on Mark Flekken’s constantly busy net, alongside also failing to register a single accurate cross across his meagre 28 touches.

Moreover, Madueke’s bite which has seen him three duels on average this season in the Premier League was notably missing, with the Blues number 11 failing to win a single duel from four attempts.

Therefore, it wasn’t the greatest shock to anyone inside the Bees’ home ground when Maresca substituted him off just shy of the hour mark, with a low 5/10 rating also coming his way from the Express’ Charlie Gordon post-match, who simply stated that he offered ‘very little.’

Maresca will likely reinstate faces such as Cole Palmer and the aforementioned Jackson for Chelsea’s barrage of games to come, with other personnel such as Nkunku and Madueke fearful of their starting spots if this goalless draw is anything to go by.