Enzo Maresca with Joao Pedro. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

17 touches and one shot – Chelsea starlet must be more involved if Blues want to go to next level

Originally posted on Chelsea News | Last updated Oct 6, 2025 9:30 AM ET

A win over Liverpool at the weekend was great for Chelsea’s morale, and lots of player did really well.

Moises Caiedo, Reece James, Marc Cucurella – the list of Blues who did well is long.

But it wasn’t all easy – striker Joao Pedro was anonymous once again. FotMob gave him a 6.2 rating, the lowest on the team. He managed just one shot – blocked before it even reached the box. He had 17 touches, not nearly enough even for a player leading the line.

Joao Pedro gets much needed break to regain his form

In a way, the good news is that he came off after 74 minutes. That gave him a little break, and the fact he’s not been called up for Brazil in this international break (thank you, Carlo Ancelotti) means he now finally gets a much needed break from action to recover physically.

Poor JP has been carrying various minor injuries and looks tired too. Hopefully a solid rest now will see him back to his best – although the real solution is likely tactical.

Tactical solution to getting striker into form

Despite being built like a number 9 and being a menace at corners, the Brazil man is actually more of a between the lines player who will look better with a striker to play off.

As you can see from his stats, he’s not getting enough shots away at the moment:

Metric /90 minutes	Value
Goals	0.31
Expected Goals (xG)	0.24
xG on Target (xGOT)	0.30
Non-Penalty xG	0.24
Shots	1.54
Shots on Target	0.46

Meanwhile he’s way up there in terms of assists and passes for his position. All of this should look a lot better when Liam Delap is back in November (not that far away now) and JP has a partner to play off up top.

This article first appeared on Chelsea News and was syndicated with permission.

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