Liam Delap's statistical strengths...and weaknesses! | OneFootball

After an impressive season leading the line at Ipswich Town last season, young striker Liam Delap signed for Chelsea for £30m last week with his new manager Enzo Maresca since billing him as a "future England number nine".

In line for his debut tonight in the Blues' Club World Cup opener against Los Angeles FC, the 22-year-old forward hit 12 goals in 37 Premier League appearances last term for the relegated Tractor Boys and became one of the most exciting young strikers in the top flight.

Still raw, the former Man City academy graduate already combines physical presence with an eye for goal - but what do his 2024/25 stats reveal about the tools he will bring to Stamford Bridge, and any areas that may need refining?

To answer that, here are three stats that showcase Delap's key strengths... and three that point to aspects where growth may still be needed.

Delap's strengths

A threat on the break: Strong, deceptively pacy and direct in his running, Delap will offer his new club a potent threat in transition and a number of stats highlight his threat in this regard. Only Liverpool's Mo Salah (7) scored more goals on the counter-attack last season than the England youth international (4), who also ranked 18th in the top flight for successful dribbles last term, with 40.

He makes goalkeepers work: Ploughing a lone furrow at times for Ipswich last season was a tough ask of a young centre-forward, but Delap was not in the habit of wasting opportunities when they came his way. The son of former Rory Delap hit the target with 32 of his 68 shots last season in the Premier League to register a very respectable shot-on-target percentage of 47% and he actually finished the season having out-performed his expected goals of 11.7 xG by a fraction. Delap also had a 100% record from the penalty spot, netting the two spot-kicks that came his way.

He can lead the line: As touched upon, the burden of scoring goals and providing attacking threat at Ipswich fell upon Delap and the exciting young forward showed that he could shoulder the responsibility. In fact, Delap scored exactly a third of the Tractor Boys' Premier League goals last term - only three players in the English top tier (Salah, Wood and Isak, all 34%) netted a higher percentage of their team's goals.

Areas for development?

Aerial threat: Although Delap did win 58 of the 134 aerial duels he contested in the Premier League last term, his heading ability is not a strength and it will not have escaped Chelsea's attention that their new signing did not score a single headed goal last term.

Making the ball stick: As you would expect given his time at Man City's academy under Maresca, Delap is blessed with a very good first touch - but this does not mean he can't develop his ability to keep hold of the ball high up the pitch. Obviously the level of service into forwards can skew stats somewhat, but Delap ranked third in the Premier League for unsuccessful touches (with 104) and fifth for the number of times he was dispossessed (60) last season.

The matchwinning gene: Given that Ipswich only won four games during the entire 2024/25 campaign, there was little chance for Delap to prove his ability to score the goals that really matter, the type that secure three valuable points. None of the dozen goals he hit last term were matchwinners, though, and it will be interesting to see if Delap can showcase his killer instincts and help fire Chelsea to victory in Atlanta tonight.