Enzo Maresca boosted by Chelsea striker options ahead of Arsenal and Barcelona showdowns | OneFootball

Blues now have plethora of different options in attack with some big games on the horizon after the international break

Yet that goal also said plenty about the plethora of options Enzo Maresca now has in how Chelsea set up in the final third. Particularly, up front.

It therefore came as little surprise when he was the first Chelsea player to be hooked. A minute later, Delap's replacement, Estevao, set up Joao Pedro to double Chelsea’s lead against their now-tiring visitors.

Interestingly, Joao Pedro's goal came from the No10 role he had occupied since the start of the match, despite Delap having been the player to make way for Estevao. Pedro Neto, against his former team, had moved up front as the sole striker and Joao Pedro remained chief playmaker. That decision from Maresca paid dividends remarkably quickly.

Joao Pedro and Estevao celebrate against Wolves

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“The reason why we put Pedro [Neto] as a No9 is because Joao Pedro was not completely fit to continue to press in the way we were pressing with Liam,” Maresca explained. “So the idea was to put Pedro [Neto up front] and continue to be aggressive with Pedro.”

Not only did that allow Joao Pedro the space to make his late arrival onto Estevao’s delivery, it also saw Neto stretch Wolves’ increasingly disjointed defence late in the game in an entirely different way from how Delap’s physical presence had done earlier. Sure enough, Alejandro Garnacho broke away down the left and crossed for Neto to apply the finish for 3-0, making good on his auxiliary centre-forward role.

With Delap now back from injury and steadily working his way back to match fitness and form, Chelsea’s striking options have grown. Joao Pedro scored the game’s only goal in the win over Tottenham from the No9 position; it is Delap’s favoured role; it is Marc Guiu's favoured role; Neto scored against Wolves there; and Tyrique George has been used there plenty by Maresca.

Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto play the role very differently to Delap, for example, but that opportunity to switch it up can only be an advantage for the Blues.

Following a summer in which Christopher Nkunku was sold to AC Milan and Nicolas Jackson loaned (at least initially) to Bayern Munich, Maresca and his coaching team must be encouraged, as the busy Christmas period of the season appears on the horizon, by the number of different avenues they can go down when it comes to picking who starts up front.

The most common choice, you sense, will be Delap, with either Joao Pedro or, when fit, Cole Palmer playing just off him. Maresca said on countless occasions when Delap was sidelined that in matches against low-block defences, the way he occupies defenders can create useful space for the No10 and wingers to exploit.

Liam Delap is fit again after injury

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There is, admittedly, an element of forfeiting Delap so others can benefit about that, but when he is more in the groove over the coming months, there is an optimism from inside the club that Delap will be able to deliver tireless and effective displays himself, like when he scored his first Chelsea goal and proved a real nuisance all night in the 3-0 win over ES Tunis at the Club World Cup.

“Liam's performance was not easy for many reasons,” Maresca said after Wolves. “First of all, because he’s gone a long time without playing minutes, second because they had 11 players almost at the edge [of their box], so there was no space for Liam in behind.

“Liam is a No9 that needs space, he needs to attack in behind, he needs to fight, he needs to do these kinds of things. Against them - they are low-block - for him it's a bit more difficult because there is no space that he can attack.”

While this may not have been the game for Delap to shine on an individual level, it did outline the different possibilities Maresca can choose from to lead the line with big games coming against Arsenal and Barcelona after the international break. All of a different profile, but all effective on their day.