Chelsea's glaring room for improvement in one key area despite significant spending on the 'best in his field' – and how Wolves can be the perfect victims, writes KIERAN GILL

Chelsea’s set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva sits in the same seat for every game at Stamford Bridge – back row of the bench, closest to the tunnel, at the top of a staircase which he can charge down when a corner is won in order to choreograph some chaos.

Beside Cueva is a screen simultaneously showing four alternative angles of the live action, giving him a grand overview of who is where. He gets his steps in dashing between that device and the technical area, in constant communication with Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca.

He is a clever man, Cueva, a 38-year-old Mexican who completed his UEFA Pro Licence last year via the Football Association. He was in good company in the class of 2024 with Hassan Sulaiman, head coach of Chelsea’s Under 18s, another on that course which costs £13,700 to complete.

Chelsea spent significantly more to hire Cueva from Brentford – circa £750,000 in compensation – with one insider hailing him as the ‘best in his field’ when he started in the summer.

Six months on, however, there is room for improvement and Chelsea know it.

On Thursday morning, Maresca was shown some statistics by his analysts as they prepared to play Wolves, the Premier League’s worst team for defending set-pieces. Now managed by Vitor Pereira, they have conceded 17 goals from such scenarios, the next nearest being Southampton on 11.

Blues boss Enzo Maresca knows there is plenty of room for improvement if Chelsea want to be more of a danger at set-pieces

Specifically, Maresca was told how Chelsea have won 131 corners this season, but not so high is the number of goals they have scored from those situations – just three in total.

Three from 131 leaves Chelsea with a conversion rate of 2.3 per cent. Only five Premier League clubs had a worse percentage heading into the weekend’s fixtures and last season, when the Blues did not have a set-piece coach but did have Thiago Silva attacking balls in the box, they scored nine from 202, adding up to 4.5 per cent.

‘We can be more clinical,’ Maresca concluded after seeing the statistics, the consensus being that set-pieces should represent a golden opportunity to grab goals at a time when the team have been struggling to convert their chances from open play.

Cueva is diligent and determined and in studying Wolves’ weaknesses, he will have highlighted their zonal marking at corners. It can look as organised as a teenager’s bedroom, with it surprising that 5ft 10in Hwang Hee-chan is sometimes used as the first man. Tottenham only needed to fire a fast-paced ball over his head in order for Rodrigo Bentancur to score last month.

One of the reasons Tosin Adarabioyo was signed in the summer was for his height, his 6ft 5in presence considered an asset in Chelsea’s considerations.

He could feature at centre back on Monday, particularly if Levi Colwill is unable to play after missing training sessions at Cobham last week. Trevoh Chalobah, 6ft 4in, and Josh Acheampong, their 6ft 2in academy graduate who has headed home corners at youth level, are two other options.

When Chelsea beat Wolves 6-2 earlier in the season, their opener came from a corner. The cross came in from Cole Palmer, there was a flick-on from the front by Wesley Fofana, and then Nicolas Jackson headed in at the back.

Maresca hopes Palmer and Enzo Fernandez will be fit enough to feature against Wolves after likewise missing sessions over the last week. They are Chelsea’s chief takers – Palmer the left-footer taking them from the right, and Fernandez the right-footer taking them from the left.

Chelsea spent significantly to hire Cueva from Brentford – circa £750,000 in compensation – with one insider hailing him as the ‘best in his field’

Chelsea will be hoping star man Cole Palmer (pictured) is fit to play Wolves where his in-swinging corners could be crucial

Chelsea favour those in-swingers but on the odd occasion they fancy an out-swinger, you will see Palmer play it short to Fernandez, or Fernandez short to Palmer. Now that Reece James has returned from injury, his dead-ball deliveries could see him take over from Fernandez.

It was James who took Chelsea’s ninth corner in their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. The set-up was similar to the other eight as a bunched-up group of players rushed the six-yard box. Yet once again, it led to nothing, as Adarabioyo sent a looping header wide with the last touch of the game.

Chelsea should have a special affiliation with set-pieces as a club, given the dramatics of the 2012 Champions League final. Bayern Munich had 20 corners overall to their one, and yet Didier Drogba made that singular chance count with his front-post dash in the 88th minute.

With Maresca now desperate for a win after a month-long malaise, he would love a little help from a dead ball. Monday night would be as good a time as any, particularly with the visitors to Stamford Bridge regularly looking more like puppies than wolves when those corners are coming in.