---
title: "Chelsea: Jermaine Jenas thinks Blues attack is not good enough for top four"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/chelsea-jermaine-jenas-thinks-blues-attack-is-not-good-enough-for-top-four/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Stephan Georgiou"
section: "Chelsea Football Club"
published: "2019-08-10T19:15:30Z"
modified: "2019-08-10T19:15:30Z"
---

# Chelsea: Jermaine Jenas thinks Blues attack is not good enough for top four

**Former Premier League footballer Jermaine Jenas believes Chelsea could struggle to mount a challenge for a top-four spot in this coming season because their attack lacks the firepower to replace the void of Eden Hazard and seal a Champions League place.**

[Hazard](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48548790) left for Real Madrid having topped the team’s [charts](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/chelsea-fc/leistungsdaten/verein/631/reldata/%262018/plus/1) for goals and assists last season – delivering a third-placed [Premier League](https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table/2018) finish and a Europa League [trophy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48368406) in the process.

Making his predictions for the year ahead for [BBC Sport](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49258004) upon the closing of the transfer window, Jenas feels that Chelsea and Manchester United enter the campaign as prime candidates to fill the Europa League places come May – though did not discount the threat of those below to stage an assault on the current top six.

He said: “Hazard won games on his own last year. You would think that people like Pedro, Willian and the rest will step up, and Christian Pulisic should do well. Their midfield will dictate a lot of games, but when you look at their strikers – Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi – they do not have the firepower they need.

“United and Chelsea are the weaker of the top six teams. If you look at Everton, Wolves and Leicester, they are all pulling in the right direction, have got good teams, and can play well home and away. I think they will really put a challenge into the top six this year – I am looking forward to seeing them doing that.”

Chelsea may have to find new ways to win without talisman Hazard, but their frontline is not necessarily as impotent as Jenas makes out.

Giroud top-scored in the [Europa League](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/europa-league/top-scorers) last year and was only afforded [seven](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/olivier-giroud/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/82442/plus/0?saison=2018&verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=) league starts by Maurizio Sarri, while 21-year-old [Abraham](https://www.worldfootball.net/goalgetter/eng-championship-2018-2019/) finished only second to Norwich’s Teemu Pukki in the Championship scoring charts.

[Batshuayi](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/michy-batshuayi/nationalmannschaft/spieler/179184), on the other hand, is a fully-fledged international striker for Belgium, notching at the last two major tournaments for his country – and he has a [Premier League](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/michy-batshuayi/erfolge/spieler/179184) winners’ medal, too.

So there is plenty of pedigree in the Chelsea attack alone to suggest success can be bred at Stamford Bridge this season – which may make Jenas’ theory look a little misguided.