Chelsea beat ES Tunis 3-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup to book their spot in the knockout rounds of the competition. Delap grabbed the second of the three goals in what was his first for the West London side after bagging an assist against LAFC just a week before. Goals from Delap, Tosin Adarabioyo and Tyrique George earned a convincing victory over the Tunisian side, who were dominated by the Premier League outfit.
Speaking after the game, Maresca instilled confidence in the English international who he thinks will continue to excel under his leadership.
“Against Flamengo, he had three clear chances to score goals,” Maresca said of Delap. “That is already a good feeling because it means he is in the right position and is there. We have no doubt Liam will score goals for us. No doubt about that.
“We expect the process to be quite quick with Liam because we know him and he knows us in the way we want to play,’ Maresca added of Delap’s adaptation to life as a Blue.”
Chelsea will now prepare for what will be their first meeting with Benfica since the 2013 Europa League final in the next round of the competition. The 22 year old will start the game due to the continuing unavailability of Nicolas Jackson and he will be hoping to find the back of the net once more to prove many doubters wrong.
Maresca spoke more on the preparation ahead of the clash on Sunday which allows his side to rest and recover properly before braving the heat once more.
“Now, we just finished the (ES Tunis) game. We have two or three days to prepare again. With these conditions, we're going to try to do our best.”