Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy has been speaking about Nicolas Jackson following his showing against Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Nicolas Jackson played a big part in Chelsea‘s first goal, assisting Cole Palmer after a brilliant bit of play.
Overall, though, the striker will probably be quite disappointed with his performance. He missed a few big chances as the Blues went on to draw 2-2.
Another ex-Chelsea player, Craig Burley, was really critical of Jackson following his latest display at Stamford Bridge.
Jason Cundy thinks Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson is better than Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez
Like Jackson, Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez has also come in for a lot of criticism for some of his finishing since joining the club in an £85m deal in 2022.
For Cundy, though, Jackson is still the better striker, despite the Senegal international showing his own frailties against Bournemouth.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Cundy said: “Jackson may well turn out to be a very good striker and there are a lot of good things to like. The goal, the goal he sets up for Palmer, hold-up play, pass, brilliant. It’s his finishing, his day job. He’s got to take… he could have had minimum two goals today, should have had two goals today.”
Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant then tried to compare Jackson to Nunez, a comparison Cundy was not ready to entertain.
When Pennant stated that there was a debate to be had, Cundy responded: “He’s better than Nunez. The numbers will tell you it’s not [a debate].”
Chelsea fans reacted to Jackson’s performance against Bournemouth, with there being a very mixed response.
How do Nicolas Jackson and Darwin Nunez compare?
You do not have to be a football expert to know that Jackson and Nunez are not the most clinical No.9s in the Premier League.
However, Jackson’s finishing has been better, while you cannot ignore the fact that the Chelsea star is younger than Nunez and has not been playing in England for as long as him. Simply put, he has done a much better job than his Liverpool counterpart.
Last season, Jackson scored 14 goals in 35 Premier League appearances. Nunez managed 11 in 36 and although the former did end up playing more minutes than the latter, Jackson performed better when it came to xG.
2023/24 Premier League season | Games | Minutes | Goals | xG | xG difference |
Nicolas Jackson | 35 | 2,818 | 14 | 19.86 | -5.86 |
Darwin Nunez | 36 | 2,037 | 11 | 19.19 | -8.19 |
Really, then, what the above shows is that Jackson has proven that he can finish better than Nunez across a whole season, though it is an area where both players need to improve.