Jackson's red card leaves Chelsea without a striker, despite £1B spending

NEWCASTLE, England -- Chelsea person 2 games to marque their £1 cardinal transportation gamble wage off, and they volition person to bash it without a striker.

Whether the club's scattergun recruitment oregon Nicolas Jackson's reddish paper for superior foul play successful the 2-0 decision astatine Newcastle are astir to blasted for their predicament is debatable but, either way, Chelsea's hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League are connected a knife-edge due to the fact that they won't person a striker successful their 2 astir important games of the season.

A caller Premier League revival that saw Enzo Maresca's squad triumph 3 successive league games had seen Chelsea ascent backmost into the apical 5 up of Sunday's clash with Newcastle astatine St James' Park. But the borderline for mistake for the six teams -- Newcastle, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and besides second-place Arsenal -- aiming to unafraid the 4 remaining Champions League spots down champions Liverpool is truthful bladed for each squad that immoderate gaffe astatine this signifier of run-in could wreck their hopes.

Jackson's infinitesimal of recklessness successful the archetypal half, erstwhile helium struck Newcastle defender Sven Botman successful the look with his close elbow, led to the 23-year-old being shown a reddish paper by referee John Brooks aft VAR authoritative Darren England called for a reappraisal aft the archetypal grant of a yellowish card.

By that stage, Chelsea were already 1-0 down aft Sandro Tonali's second-minute opener for Newcastle, who matched Brentford's grounds of 4 goals wrong the opening 2 minutes of this season. But, with 35 minutes connected the timepiece and Jackson walking down the tunnel, their chances of claiming astatine slightest a constituent were hugely compromised without their lone acceptable and disposable striker.

"I haven't spoken to Nico, it's not the time," manager Enzo Maresca told reporters afterwards. "But I volition talk to him successful the adjacent days. His play for america is finished. He is our No. 9, our striker, truthful we person to find a solution for the adjacent games. What you person to debar is these benignant of things, but it happened. Nico is present retired for the play and hopefully helium tin larn for the future."

Had Jackson been connected the transportation successful the 2nd half, erstwhile Chelsea enjoyed lengthy spells of possession, helium whitethorn person been capable to assistance the squad people an equalizer that would person earned a perchance important point. But Chelsea were toothless and that is the occupation they indispensable flooded successful their last 2 games, astatine location to Manchester United connected Friday and distant to Nottingham Forest successful a perchance winner-takes-all Champions League decider connected the last day.

Jackson's reddish paper has wounded his squad astatine a decisive signifier of the season, but the deeper contented is the club's lavish spending spree, successful excess of £1bn, that has near them without a solution successful the signifier of an out-and-out center-forward.

When Maresca selects his squad to look United astatine Stamford Bridge aboriginal this week, helium volition person to bash truthful without Jackson -- who volition commencement a three-match suspension for his reddish paper -- Christopher Nkunku (injured), Jadon Sancho (ineligible to look his genitor club), Marc Guiu (injured) and Mykhailo Mudryk, who is inactive provisionally suspended for alleged doping.

Of that group, lone Jackson could beryllium classed arsenic a striker. The remainder are portion of Chelsea's assortment of wingers and forwards who person been signed up of, yes, you guessed it, a center-forward.

Jackson, a £32 cardinal signing from Villarreal successful June 2023, is simply a striker but not a peculiarly prolific one. His extremity successful the 1-0 triumph against Everton past period was his 10th successful the Premier League this season, but his archetypal since mid-December. Chelsea volition not miss his goals successful the last 2 games, but they volition miss his beingness arsenic the focal constituent of their team.

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Have Newcastle secured their UCL spot up of Chelsea?

Janusz Michallik analyses the contention for the apical 5 spots up of the last 2 games of the season.

The goal-scoring load volition apt autumn connected the shoulders of guardant Cole Palmer, who has netted 15 goals successful 35 Premier League appearances this season, but portion the 23-year-old is supremely talented, it is present 20 games since helium past scored from unfastened play successful each competitions. His punishment against Liverpool past week was his archetypal extremity of immoderate benignant since the 2-2 gully against Bournemouth connected Jan. 14.

Palmer whitethorn yet crook retired to beryllium Chelsea's hero, but they are present walking a tightrope successful their adjacent 2 games. It seems similar Maresca's broadside volition request astatine slightest 4 points, and possibly adjacent each six, from their last 2 games to clinch a top-five finish. Without a striker, that volition beryllium a pugnacious challenge. But arsenic Manchester City's astonishment 0-0 gully distant to bottommost nine Southampton showed connected Saturday, nary effect tin beryllium taken for granted astatine this signifier of the season.

Even Newcastle, who moved into 3rd connected 66 points with the triumph against Chelsea, are inactive anxiously looking implicit their shoulders successful the contention for Champions League qualification. They question to Arsenal adjacent Sunday knowing that some Chelsea and Aston Villa could lucifer their points tally by beating United and Tottenham respectively connected Friday. But Newcastle present person the vantage due to the fact that they did what they had to bash against Chelsea.

It's a antithetic script for Maresca's team, but if they neglect to triumph astatine slightest 1 of their remaining games, they are highly improbable to decorativeness successful the apical five. If that happens, their £1bn spending spree volition beryllium arsenic hard to fathom arsenic Jackson's decision-making erstwhile helium challenged Botman.