Chelsea will go into the final day of the Premier League season with their destiny in their own hands as they bid to seal Champions League qualification.
On Friday night, the Blues secured an important 1-0 win at home against Manchester United in their penultimate fixture of the league season.
Chelsea have moved up to fourth in the league table after beating Man Utd. As a result, they’ll travel to Nottingham Forest on the final day of the Premier League knowing a win will guarantee them a top-five finish.
Yet again, Marc Cucurella popped up with an important goal this campaign, as his header clinched three points against Man Utd.
The biggest challenge for Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was that he had to find a solution in attack without suspended centre-forward Nicolas Jackson. Incidentally, Chelsea’s hierarchy are backing Nicolas Jackson and have drawn a line in the sand after his red card against Newcastle United.
Blues youngster Tyrique George, 19, stepped up against Man Utd to play at striker in his first Premier League start.
Enzo Maresca prepared to start Tyrique George at striker again
Following Chelsea’s success against Man Utd, Maresca reserved some special praise for Blues youngster George after his contribution in attack.
Even though the 19-year-old academy graduate has had some first-team minutes at centre-forward, he’s a skilful winger by trade. It was a challenging night for him facing three experienced Man Utd centre-backs.
Interestingly, Maresca is certain that George is a good option to lead the line again next Sunday against Forest.
When asked about George’s performance against Man Utd, Maresca said via Football.London: “Very good. Very good. Brave. He was a threat in behind. Not easy for him because on the other side you have [Harry] Maguire, you have [Victor[ Lindelof, you have [Luke] Shaw. He was fighting against important defenders. But again, we tried to find a solution with a player from the academy. Overall I think also he had the penalty moment, so he works quite good.”
Afterwards, Maresca was asked whether George showed enough to make him think he can start on the final day against Forest if he needs him. The Blues head coach responded: “Absolutely, yes. 100%.”
While George did the best he could as cover in the No 9 position, it’s quite evident his long-term future will be on the wing. Unfortunately, he went through large passages of play against Man Utd without too much involvement.
The English teenager thought he had won his side a penalty in the second half after he was challenged by goalkeeper Andre Onana, but referee Chris Kavanagh overturned his on-field decision of a spot-kick after being sent to the monitor by VAR.
Joe Shields is a huge supporter of Tyrique George, and we like what we’ve seen from him in the first-team group this season. However, it’s unfair to ask him to lead the line in huge matches at this stage in his development.
Tyrique George would struggle again vs Nottingham Forest
Like Man Utd, Forest play with powerful and experienced central defenders.
Therefore, we’d urge Maresca to avoid deploying George as the central striker again because he’s unlikely to have much success at the City Ground.
| Minutes played | Goals | Assists | Total shoits | Chances created | Accurate passes | Touches in opposition box | Match rating |
| 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5/8 (63%) | 1 | 6.6 |
We’d much prefer to see George used as an impact substitute for the final 20 minutes against Forest, where he can inject some pace and fresh legs late on.
The alternative for Chelsea would be to ask Pedro Neto or Cole Palmer to start in a false-nine position. Pedro Neto enjoys playing down the middle, so we’d lean towards him as Jackson’s cover.
