Welcome to The Radar, a Your Site column in which uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
🔵 Chelsea's attacking recruits in spotlight
💪 Semenyo's instant impact for Man City
⏲️ Brobbey coming up clutch for Sunderland
🔍 A player to watch this weekend
Chelsea supporters might not lament absence for Sunday's meeting with Manchester City. He has work to do to repair relations with the fanbase after his comments relating to Real Madrid prompted the club to sideline him for two games.
But his absence does deprive them of their second-highest scorer of non-penalty goals this season, and a player whose equaliser against Sunday's opponent at the Etihad Stadium in January secured a point under interim boss Calum McFarlane.
It will be on others to step up this time. Chelsea were able to rattle seven goals past League One's bottom club Port Vale in the FA Cup on Saturday but face Manchester City having failed to score in three consecutive games against top-level opposition.
Their misfiring attack is a problem for Liam Rosenior.
has done his part. His total of 14 Premier League goals following his £60m arrival from Brighton is the fourth-highest in the division. One more will take him to 20 in all competitions.
But for the rest of the forwards signed last summer, it has been a struggle. Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho, Liam Delap and Estevao cost a combined £150.5m in transfer fees. Nine months into the season, they have four Premier League goals between them.
At only 18, Estevao has done enough to suggest he will prove worth the expense. Like Delap and the currently sidelined Gittens, he has also had to overcome a hamstring injury. But Chelsea would surely have expected more from their attacking overhaul in the short-term, even if it was carried out with their long-term future in mind.
Gittens was rarely trusted to start even before his injury. It has been a similar story for Delap, who was slammed for ill-discipline by Enzo Maresca following his red card against Wolves in October, and indeed for Garnacho, who has struggled to hold down a place.
Finishing has been an issue, with all four players underperforming expected goals to varying degrees. Delap is the biggest culprit having scored nearly three goals fewer than he should have, based on the quality of his chances. Garnacho is not far behind him.
They are not the only ones to have found it tough going at Chelsea this season. Cole Palmer has had issues with form and fitness. He has only scored four Premier League goals excluding penalties.
But their struggles, amid Chelsea's plight, still raise uncomfortable questions for the club's hierarchy, whose youthful recruitment strategy - Gittens, Delap, Garnacho and Estevao have an average age of under 21 - has left them short on reliable goalscorers.
Manchester City show the value of recruiting for the here and now. Antoine Semenyo, signed from Bournemouth in January, has scored more goals in nine Premier League games for City than Gittens, Delap, Garnacho and Estevao have managed in 78 for Chelsea.
Semenyo, 26, arrived at the Etihad Stadium at peak age having shown his Premier League readiness over the course of two-and-a-half seasons as a consistent starter for Bournemouth. He was able to slot straight in and have precisely the desired impact.
His goal in their FA Cup semi-final demolition of Liverpool on Saturday was his eighth in all competitions, a contribution which has helped to reinvigorate their attack in the second half of the campaign while easing their reliance on Erling Haaland.
His visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday may have some at Chelsea reflecting on their own approach to the transfer market.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Sunderland host Spurs live on Your Site in their first game under Roberto De Zerbi. Few could have imagined at the start of the season that the visiting side would be the ones fighting against relegation when this fixture rolled around.
Sunderland have been defying expectations all season but their Tyne-Wear derby win over Newcastle last month was a dizzying new high. It was also just the latest example of Brian Brobbey, scorer of their 90th-minute winner, producing a clutch contribution.
All but one of the striker's six Premier League goals have proved crucial. His 94th-minute equaliser against Arsenal in November was followed by the decisive, third goal in a 3-2 win over Bournemouth.
Brobbey then scored an 80th-minute equaliser to claim a point against Sunderland's opponent on Sunday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in January, before netting a 71st-minute winner in the 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace at the Stadium of Light.
Throw in his close-range strike against Newcastle, and Brobbey's goals have been worth a total of eight points to Sunderland this season. Only Brentford's Igor Thiago has scored more goals in the final 25 minutes of Premier League games.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Youri Tielemans' return to fitness for Aston Villa. He faces Nottingham Forest on Sunday having produced two assists on his first start since January in Thursday's Europa League win over Bologna.
Liverpool host Fulham on Saturday Night Football, with coverage starting at 5pm on Your Site Premier League and Your Site Main Event ahead of the 5.30pm kick-off.
A bumper schedule on Super Sunday has Crystal Palace vs Newcastle, Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa and Sunderland vs Spurs all available to watch across Your Site at 2pm before Chelsea's meeting with Man City at 4.30pm.
On Monday Night Football, Man Utd host Leeds. Coverage begins at 6.30pm on Your Site Premier League and Your Site Main Event ahead of the 8pm kick-off time.
Declan Rice for player of the year? The midfielder's continued improvement for Arsenal was the subject of the last column.
