Stat suggests Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson takes unfair flak

Nicolas Jackson has not had the easiest of times since arriving in the Premier League.

A respectable return of 14 league goals for Chelsea came alongside criticism last term, with Jackson accused of wastefulness around goal. The xG numbers certainly backed those suggestions up, as the Senegalese forward underperformed by -4.66 with only five players in the Premier League posting less clinical numbers.

Jackson, however, is certainly persistent and marked his 50th appearance for the Blues with a match-winning performance against West Ham. The 23-year-old scored a quick-fire brace to hand Chelsea a two-nil lead inside 18 minutes of their London Derby, before setting up Cole Palmer for the third goal.

He has now has four goals in the first five Premier League games of the season and a healthy 20 in 50 appearances for Chelsea. Meanwhile, Jackson has now scored more non-penalty goals than players including Alexander Isak, Son Heung-min, Kai Havertz and Mohamed Salah (18) since his arrival in English football.

Jackson admits Chelsea confidence is growing

Jackson said to TNT Sports at full-time that his self-confidence was on the up at Chelsea this season: “Growing higher with my team-mates, they help me a lot and they have confidence in me.

“We keep going. This one is finished and next week we go onto another one.

“The most important thing is for the team to win. I am happy to play always. To fight for the team and the team to win is the most important thing.”

Chelsea favourite compares Jackson to club great

“I think Enzo Maresca saw they could break past West Ham and Nicolas Jackson is fantastic at that. It’s what he does,” former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole said to TNT Sports on the forward.

“[He has] good numbers. He is a young man, a young player, he’s learning his trade. People talked about Didier Drogba’s first two seasons when he wasn’t as prolific as he later became. Nevertheless, he has scored the goals and he will get better.

“He needs to just keep improving, be a bit more composed and [gain] more confidence. He will bounce into the next game now. I am very, very pleased for him.”

Read – Palmer praises Chelsea’s two-goal hero after West Ham win

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