FA Cup clash should show Lampard why Abraham is Chelsea's best striker
On Sunday Chelsea face a potential banana skin in the making when they welcome Morecambe to Stamford Bridge for their FA Cup clash.
However, the coming clash against the lower league opponents may also offer Frank Lampard an opportunity to press the reset button and try some new players in his team.
Chelsea have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions and in attack Lampard’s side look particularly troubled. Could it be time for the Chelsea manager to wipe the slate clean and try something else up front?
Fortunately for Lampard, he already has a ready-made striker in Tammy Abraham. The 23-year-old striker has started just eight of Chelsea’s 17 Premier League games to date but is expected to start on Sunday and could once again prove why he’s Lampard’s best option in attack.
Abraham is Chelsea’s best goalscorer
For a start, Abraham is quite simply Chelsea’s most accomplished goal scorer this season. Although Olivier Giroud may lead the club’s goalscoring charts with nine goals in all competitions, no Chelsea player has scored more in the Premier League than Abraham. Which is quite impressive, considering he’s played around half as many minutes as Timo Werner.
Indeed, the English striker is currently averaging around 0.76 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes of Premier League football. That’s not as impressive as super-sub Giroud, who has managed to squeeze out an even higher average of 0.76 but that’s over just 359 minutes of league football and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The real comparison comes with Werner, who is currently averaging just 0.26 goals P90 in the Premier League. Which suggests Abraham’s rate of goalscoring is about three times that of his German colleague.
More than just a goalscorer
However, the 23-year-old forward isn’t just a one-dimensional goalscorer whenever offered game time for Chelsea. On top of an impressive record in front of goal, Abraham also sets up goals too on a regular basis.
In fact, when we take a look at each Chelsea player’s rate of scoring or creating goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League Abraham sits top of Lampard’s entire squad with 0.81 P90, with Werner second on 0.53 and then Ben Chilwell third on 0.46.
While Lampard may feel a degree of pressure in playing Werner, following his big move from RB Leipzig in the summer, or sticking by Giroud after a long career of scoring and creating goals for big sides, the numbers suggest the Chelsea manager needs to turn to option C if he wants to turn his team’s form around. Abraham is the striker Lampard needs to start playing if he wants more goals and points out of this team.