Nicolas Jackson continues to prove doubters wrong as Chelsea beat Leicester in Premier League | OneFootball

Nicolas Jackson once again proved that he can lead the line for Chelsea as he helped the Blues beat Leicester City 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Jackson has received a lot of criticism since joining Chelsea last season. The Senegalese striker hasn’t always been the most prolific of goalscorers, with the Blues constantly linked with signing a more recognised name.

But Jackson continues to prove his doubters wrong. It’s easy to forget that Jackson joined Chelsea as a 22-year-old with just 65 senior appearances in his club career.

The game against Leicester was Jackson’s 50th start for Chelsea across all competitions, and his 57th appearance overall. He’s now scored 24 goals and provided nine assists.

Of those 24 goals, 21 have come in the Premier League. Since the start of last season, only Erling Haaland (31) and Ollie Watkins (24) have scored more non-penalty goes in the Premier League than Jackson’s 21.

Goal number 21 was a product of what Jackson brings most to Chelsea team. He constantly fought the Leicester defence, not giving up in pressuring Wout Faes, who didn’t look comfortable trying to take control of the ball.

After a pass from Enzo Fernandez, Jackson took the ball into space with the deftest of touches — lovely control to beat the defender — before finishing with the outside of his boot. It was a goal Chelsea deserved for their early pressure, and one Jackson deserved to get.

The Senegalese striker has been a terror on the road this season. He’s been directly involved in seven away goals in the Premier League this season, with no player involved more.

“He’s come on a bundle this season, Nicolas Jackson. That’s a player playing at the height of his confidence,” Joe Cole told TNT Sports at half-time.

Peter Crouch added after the game: “Credit to him, he’s worked on his game, he must have done. And credit to the club really, because last year he was getting so much stick from all quarters. ‘Is he going to be a centre-forward of a calibre that Chelsea need?’

“But he’s proven it this season, with the number of goals and his all-round play as well. He’s a handful all the time. He was really impressive today.”

Against Leicester, Jackson hit the target with all three of his shots with an xG of 0.45. Jackson has been a good finisher this season too, with 6.65 total xG and 7.48 xG on Target. So he increases his chances of scoring with his shot placement.

Jackson has also overtaken Hernan Crespo and Fernando Torres’ Premier League goal tallies. But there’s another former Chelsea striker that people will obviously draw comparisons too.

When Jackson first arrived at Chelsea, some fans will have been playing close attention to the shirt number he picked. As a striker, the No.9 is a dream. At Chelsea, though, it’s a nightmare.

Chelsea haven’t had much luck when it comes to No.9s since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink left. Crespo and Torres both donned the number at Stamford Bridge and while they had their moments, there were problems. Other No.9s for Chelsea include Mateja Kezman, Franco Di Santo, Steve Sidwell, Alvaro Morata and, of course, Khalid Boulahrouz.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the last to wear the No.9 for Chelsea, with none of the arrivals in the past two summers wanted to take it. Instead, Jackson took the No.15. And those well-versed in Chelsea history will know that the No.15 once belonged to Didier Drogba.

Drogba had No.15 when he first arrived at Chelsea, with Damien Duff holding the No.11. The Ivorian took the vacant No.11 ahead of his third season, and didn’t really pull up any trees in his first two campaigns.

In 41 games in his first season for Chelsea, Drogba scored 16 goals and provided seven assists across all competitions. Jackson scored 17 goals and provided six assists in 44 games last season.

Drogba then scored 16 goals and provided 13 assists in 41 games in his second season for Chelsea. After 13 games so far this season, Jackson has seven goals and three assists. It’s likely he’ll once again better Drogba’s scoring record, though the assists may take some beating.

Now, no one is comparing Jackson to Drogba — who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2011-12. But Jackson has been a reliable striker for Chelsea.

Enzo Fernandez makes his statement

This was also a big match for Enzo Fernandez. The Argentine had lost his place in Chelsea’s starting XI to Romeo Lavia before the international break. This was made clear by the fact that Fernandez had been starting in Chelsea’s Europa Conference League team.

Fernandez has been overshadowed in Chelsea’s midfield by Moises Caicedo, who has had an excellent 2024. Fernandez had had a bridge start to life at Chelsea, but tailed off.

The Argentine has been played in a handful of different roles this season, which hasn’t helped. He had been tried in the No.10 against Manchester City, and then deeper as part of the double pivot.

After the October international break, with Chelsea needing to be more secure, Lavia partnered Caicedo. In the final game before the November international break, Fernandez came off the bench to set up Pedro Neto’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal. That came just days after Fernandez had provided a hat-trick of assists against Noah in the Europa Conference League.

Setting up Jackson’s opener, Fernandez provided assists in back-to-back Premier League games for the first ever time. Across all competitions, it’s three matches in a row. He’s also scored and assisted in the same Premier League game for the first time.

And Fernandez proved to be the match winner, heading home late on to make it 2-0 — before Leicester pulled a goal back with an injury-time penalty. It was a lovely ghosted run into the box, putting him in the right place after Jackson’s initial header had been saved.

“I think we have looked more balanced with Lavia and Caicedo in,” Cole said.

“Enzo was the player to fall foul of that, he lost his place. But what he brings is a quality, a class. He’s more probing with his passing than the other two.

“He does everything well, which is what you’d expect from a World Cup winner. He needed this game for himself and his confidence.

“Like Caicedo, he played six months in Europe and someone bought him for £100 million in the Premier League. That’s a big burden on young shoulders. And then you win the World Cup and that adds to the burden.

“You come to a different country and a different manager in a club which was in turmoil, let’s be honest, there was a lot of change at Chelsea. He’s come in and he needed time to bed in and adjust.”