Chelsea fans were fully expecting a thumping win over Barrow in the Carabao Cup third round at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening, and that’s exactly what they got.
The Blues put on a show at the Bridge, with Christopher Nkunku netting a hat-trick in an emphatic 5-0 win over the League Two outfit.
Here’s everything we learned from the victory.
So far this season, Christopher Nkunku has fulfilled the role as ‘cup starter’ and ‘Premier League super-sub’ for Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.
And while every team needs a player who can fulfil that role, Nkunku’s recent performances have proven that he’s simply too good to just be a rotational piece.
As his stunning hat-trick against Barrow – his back-heeled second goal was particularly stunning – in the Carabao Cup, his late winner against Bournemouth, and his goals against Servette which secured Chelsea’s place in the Conference League attest, Nkunku is one of the Blues most in-form and dynamic forwards.
Maresca has to find a way to utilise him more in the Premier League.
Reports swirled on Monday and Tuesday this week that the game against Barrow in the Carabao Cup was Mykhailo Mudryk’s ‘last chance’ to impress new boss Maresca.
And while he didn’t pass that test with flying colours, Mudryk did put in a much, much improved performance.
The Ukrainian bagged an assist in the 5-0 win – just his fifth goal contribution of 2024 at Chelsea – and worked his socks off defensively too by winning five duels.
It says a lot about Ben Chilwell’s current standing at Chelsea that he didn’t even make the starting XI for the game against Barrow, with Renato Veiga getting the nod instead.
The fact that Maresca came out in his pre-match press conference and said that the plan was to sell Chilwell in the summer tells you quite a lot too.
The left-back did have a chance to impress the manager in the second half of the win on Tuesday, but to put it bluntly, we doubt he did. Chilwell’s delivery from out wide wasn’t particularly great, and he looked a bit off the pace once again.
The writing’s on the wall for this Chelsea career.
To be completely transparent: the Football Manager players in the 90min team absolutely love Cesare Casadei for his exploits in our saves in the last few games, so this section of this article is probably a bit biased.
That being said, Casadei was very good on Tuesday night and showed off exactly why the Blues opted to keep hold of him in the summer transfer window.
And while he’s not ready to displace any of Chelsea’s starting midfielders in the Premier League, he is a solid rotation option who, at 21, has time to develop into a key player in the coming years.
