Micah Richards questions whether Chelsea star is a ‘top striker’ after loss to Man City

Richards made the comments in the wake of Chelsea’s disappointing home loss to Chelsea in their opening match of the season

Jackson scored an offside goal in Chelsea’s opening game loss to Man City (Getty Images)

Pundit Micah Richards has questioned whether Nicolas Jackson is a “top striker” after the Chelsea forward put in a disjointed performance in his side’s loss to Man City.

Richards was speaking pitchside as part of Sky Sports’ post-match coverage of City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea, in which the defending champions got off to the perfect start as they hunt their fifth title in a row.

And the ex-City defender questioned whether Jackson is a top player after the Senegal man scored a goal that was later disallowed for offside, and missed a big chance to equalise in the second half.

“When Chelsea had their big moments – is Jackson a top striker?” Richards asked. “Last season I really liked him but in the key moments…I’m saying the exact same things today.

“Two chances [he missed] – one where he shouldn’t have been offside. He just gambled too early. And the other one was a difficult chance but a top striker would have put it either side of Ederson. These are the things he needs to get better at if he wants to be a top striker."

Fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp echoed Richards’ comments, adding that Chelsea have “spent £1.2bn and they still haven’t got a top striker”.

Jackson strayed offside in the build-up to scoring an offside goal after Ederson had spilled Cole Palmer’s shot from distance, and in the second half the striker wrestled free to create an opportunity for himself before firing straight at Ederson from point blank range.

These were the best two chances for Chelsea in a match where they were second best for the majority, with City scoring early through Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian wrestled Cucurella off the ball before dinking a deft chip past Sanchez, and in the second half former Chelsea man Mateo Kovacic sealed the result with a shot from distance that crept past the Chelsea ‘keeper.

Enzo Maresca’s side face Swiss side Servette on Thursday before they travel to Wolves next weekend, while City host newly promoted Ipswich.