Three ways Chelsea can line up without Nicolas Jackson against Brighton | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca may have to roll the dice to get his forwards firing again

Chelsea return to Brighton in the Premier League looking to avenge their FA Cup defeat to the same side last weekend.

To do so, though, Enzo Maresca’s side will have to deliver a far more potent attacking display and will hope to that end that Nicolas Jackson is back fit.

Jackson, along with teenage striker Marc Guiu, was injured during the victory over West Ham on deadline day and the double blow saw Maresca head to the Amex on Saturday light on centre-forward options.

Christopher Nkunku led the line without success and while Maresca was upbeat about Jackson’s injury situation in his post-match press conference, he stopped short of confirming whether the Senegalese would be fit for Friday’s repeat fixture.

Maresca is due to give a further update on Thursday, but if Jackson is not ready to return, may have to get creative in a bid to spark his attack back into life.

Here are three ways he could do it…

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Keep faith with Christopher Nkunku

Despite his unconvincing performances in recent weeks, and Maresca’s insistence that he is not an out-and-out No9, Nkunku remains the most natural fit at centre-forward.

The Frenchman is, at his best, a reliable goalscorer, a man who scored 36 goals in 59 games across his final two Bundesliga seasons with RB Leipzig before joining Chelsea. Even in what has been a difficult campaign this term, he has 13 goals across competitions, second only to Cole Palmer among Chelsea players.

At Brighton last weekend, Nkunku completed 100 per cent of his passes, but did not have a shot, evidence of too much of his involvement coming too early in Chelsea’s attacks.

Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Nkunku

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New role for Cole Palmer

When asked about his options at centre-forward last week, Maresca raised the intriguing possibility of using Palmer at centre-forward.

“I had Cole playing as a nine in the past,” the Italian said, referring to his time working with the then youngster in Manchester City’s academy, while Mauricio Pochettino also tried the idea on a couple of occasions during injury crises of his own last season.

Needless to say that moving Palmer out of his best position at No10 - from where he has 14 league goals and six assists this season - would be a significant gamble and require Chelsea to reshape their usual patterns of play.

Instead, Nkunku could swap into that deeper role, where he is more comfortable, or else Maresca could bring Kiernan Dewsbury-Halll in to play in advance of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.

Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Nkunku, Sancho; Palmer

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Use Mauricio Pochettino blueprint

A more radical shakeup to the Blues attack could see a shift back to the kind of system used under Pochettino last season, when Palmer excelled with licence to roam off the right flank.

While Chelsea’s centre-forward problems have been the headline in recent weeks, Palmer has also been enduring a quieter spell, with opponents increasingly successful in crowding him out of central areas.

This system would still necessitate Nkunku playing up front, but would at least make the No10 area less crowded, and onus would fall on one of the wingers - perhaps Pedro Neto - to play in the inside-left channel and stretch defences with runs in behind.

The issue for Maresca is that this switch would look more attractive if it came with the benefit of squeezing Fernandez, Caicedo and Romeo Lavia into the same team, something he has seldom been able to do this season. As it is, the Belgian remains sidelined through injury.