Maresca hoping for Delap impact after Joao Pedro's scoring struggles
Joao Pedro has failed to find the net in his last seven Premier League games as Chelsea hope for attacking reinforcement from Liam Delap.
Enzo Maresca acknowledged Joao Pedro is a different type of striker from the world's best talismans, as Chelsea prepare to welcome back out-and-out front man Liam Delap.
Chelsea were beaten 2-1 by Premier League surprise package Sunderland last Saturday and will hope to bounce back when they visit struggling Wolves in Wednesday's EFL Cup clash.
Delap has missed the last 10 club games since suffering a hamstring issue against Fulham in August, with Chelsea struggling in front of goal in his absence.
The former Ipswich Town striker's return will be "gradually" phased back in, according to Maresca, who hopes to ease some of the pressure on Joao Pedro.
Having scored two goals and assisted three in his first four league games for Chelsea since leaving Brighton, Joao Pedro has since failed to score in his last seven in the top flight.
Maresca does not expect the Brazilian to be a continued source of goals, however, suggesting he is of a different ilk to some of the sport's leading marksmen.
"For sure the physical part is important. When you are not 100% it's difficult to compete, especially in this league," the Chelsea boss said of Joao Pedro's dip in form.
"Joao Pedro is not a number nine that is going to score 20 goals each year. Joao's a fantastic player, he's going to score and give assists but he's a different kind of nine to ones that score 20 to 25 goals each year like [Robert] Lewandowski, [Kylian] Mbappe or [Erling] Haaland."
Indeed, Joao Pedro has two goals in nine league games, which is in stark contrast to Haaland (11 in nine), Mbappe (11 in 10), and Lewandowski, who has found the target four times in seven LaLiga outings.
The Chelsea forward has managed just three shots on target in those Premier League matches, again well behind Lewandowski (eight), Haaland (21) and Mbappe (22).
His shot conversion rate is also well behind the world-class strikers, with his 18.18% standing out as much lower than Haaland's 29.73% ratio in the same league.
Chelsea's profligacy has not been helped by the absence of Cole Palmer, who is not expected to return from a groin injury until December and has completed just two full matches this season.
Maresca urged his side to share the attacking burden around if the Blues are to compete on all fronts for more silverware on the back of their Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League triumphs.
"Absolutely, yes," he said. "We said many times that the five players at the front, we need six, seven, eight, nine, 10 goals each, in the way we have done last season."
