Craig Burley reveals what has’surprised’ him about Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson this season.

Craig Burley has been “surprised” by one aspect of Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson’s performance this season.

Chelsea have had a relatively steady start to the season as they adjust to life under a new manager. Enzo Maresca must be content with his side’s 10 points from five Premier League games.

Nicolas Jackson, 23, has been one of the most impressive players thus far.

Jackson, now in his second year at Stamford Bridge, has four league goals and two assists this season. This included an excellent brace last weekend in an impressive 3-0 away victory over West Ham.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has praised Jackson as his team prepares to face Chelsea tomorrow afternoon in the league.

READ MORE: Paul Merson reveals his preferred striker for Chelsea. Nicolas Jackson, or Christopher Nkunku

Craig Burley was surprised by Nicolas Jackson.
ESPN pundit Craig Burley is the latest pundit to praise Jackson for his impressive start to the season. He is particularly interested in the centre-forward’s ability to connect play.

When asked about Chelsea’s Jackson, Burley told ESPN, “What I’ve been impressed with, his link-up play this season has actually been quite good. That surprised me, because I believe he struggled with it last year. He’s definitely improved.

Chelsea spread the goals around.
In the early weeks of the season, it’s clear that Chelsea is spreading the goals around the team rather than relying on a single player.

Here’s a look at the Blues’ scorers so far this season:

Player Goals (All Competitions)
Christopher Nkunku 6

Nicolas Jackson 4
Noni Madueke 4
Cole Palmer 2
Pedro Neto 1.
Joao Felix 1.
Maresca benefits greatly from being able to rotate and call on such a large number of quality forwards. At the same time, leaving high-profile players on the bench each week and managing the dressing room to keep everyone happy presents its own set of challenges.

Enzo Maresca claims that one Chelsea player is’making the players around him better’.

Enzo Maresca has plenty of options at Chelsea after a busy summer transfer window, but one of the 2022 signings is catching the eye this season.

Chelsea fans are finally seeing things come together at Stamford Bridge after a string of disappointing seasons.

However, they will face one of their most difficult challenges in the Premier League next, with Brighton and Hove Albion.

Fabian Hurzeler, like Enzo Maresca, prefers to play an attacking style of football that includes a high press and full-backs moving forward to support the attack.

It has the potential to be an extremely exciting game, with Chelsea’s streak of not conceding a goal coming to an end.

However, one player will have a significant impact on the clean sheet situation, and the Chelsea manager has praised him in his press conference.
Enzo Maresca admits Marc Cucurella has improved his teammates this season.
Renato Veiga has already expressed his admiration for Marc Cucurella, saying, ‘What a guy’ and ‘What a player’ when asked about him.

Cucurella has been Chelsea’s primary left-back this season, starting all five Premier League games, and Ben Chilwell’s situation has certainly helped.

The Spaniard will not complain, as he has taken full advantage of the opportunity presented to him following a successful summer with Spain at the Euros.

Interestingly, during his pre-Brighton press conference (as reported by Football London), Enzo Maresca discussed how special the defender is.

“Marc is extremely important. Marc possesses a quality that other players may lack. He is good and helps the players around him improve.

“If you have five, six or seven players like Marc in a team, it is very important.”

Is Ben Chilwell an issue for Cucurella?
Ben Chilwell was left out of the senior squad over the summer.

However, in a dramatic turn of events over the last week or so at Chelsea, Chilwell has been reintroduced, with Enzo Maresca apologising for his treatment of the player.

The Englishman is a valuable addition to your squad, with the experience and quality to fill in at left-back when needed.

However, given his limited playing time and the presence of Renato Veiga at the club, Maresca may wait for him to improve his match readiness before pitting the three of them against each other.