Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca makes bold Liam Delap prediction after major Nicolas Jackson blow

Enzo Maresca does not doubt that Liam Delap will score goals for Chelsea after opening his account for the Blues against Esperance Tunis.

His first strike since signing from Ipswich Town helped the Blues secure a 3-0 win against their opponents from Tunisia in Philadelphia and progress to the last 16 of the Club World Cup. Delap was starting his second successive match after debuting from the bench in their Group D opener against Los Angeles FC.

Nicolas Jackson being sent off in that match and his subsequent suspension has provided the new signing with this opportunity to impress. That will now extend into the round of 16 tie with Benfica.

Maresca has now told reporters: “We know Liam is going to score goals for us; we don’t have any doubts about that. Against Flamengo, he had three clear chances to score goals, so that is a good feeling because it means he is there, he is in the right position and doing well.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t score against Flamengo, but he scored here. We expect the process to be quite quick with Liam because we know him, and he knows us in the way we want to play.”

His team gained the upper hand over their Tunisian opponents with two quick goals right before the half-time whistle. First through a Tosin Adarabioyo header, followed by Delap deftly taking on two defenders and placing the ball past goalkeeper Bechir Ben Said.

The skilful Enzo Fernandez artfully set up both goals. Their triumph was sealed with a late Tyrique George goal, capitalising on another moment Ben Said would prefer to forget.

The Blues secured second place in Group D, behind Flamengo, after being beaten by the Brazilian team 3-1 last week. They will now take on Benfica in Charlotte after the Portuguese side’s impressive victory over Bayern Munich.