Chelsea began their Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace, winning 3-0 and they did it all before their new £90 million forward, Romelu Lukaku, was even in the country.
On Sunday the Blues took on their London rivals, Arsenal. Lukaku made his debut, and as the script predicted, scored in a 2-0 win.
Lukaku made the impact everybody expected and ran Arsenal defenders, Pablo Mari and Rob Holding, ragged. His pace, positioning and strength were too much for them to handle and he played like you’d expect a world-class striker too.
Instant impact. 💥 pic.twitter.com/lCMmZUnJI5
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 22, 2021
In 2020/21, after manager Thomas Tuchel was appointed, Chelsea’s biggest problem was putting the ball in the net with then-new signing Timo Werner missing big chances and struggling to acclimatise to the riggers of the Premier League.
In Lukaku’s first appearance back in England, he showed just what the Blues have been missing; using his movement and finishing to be in just the right place, as Reece James set him up for their first goal against the Gunners.
Last season Chelsea underperformed their xG by 4.9%, so there is no doubt they create opportunities, they just didn’t finish them. Lukaku looks to have helped change that going forward.
Romelu Lukaku attempted eight shots and created chances on three more occasions against Arsenal – only once before has he been involved in 11+ of his sides’ shots in a Premier League match, for Everton versus West Ham in May 2015.
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) August 22, 2021
Read our post-match stats review of #ARSCHE. ⬇️
There is plenty of talk that the Belgium International is just an old school number 9, a big body up-front, but that’s far from the truth – Lukaku does indeed, have a big strong body, but he also comes with some lightning pace and exceptional finishing skills with his head and both feet.
Lukaku can break into the box at the right time with the pace of a player half his size and is incredibly hard to stop, as he can hold defenders off time and time again with his brute strength.
The biggest difficulty for defenders is trying to stop those runs, but even if you can hold him back, he has the size to get to the ball either way.
With the players in this Chelsea side, known for their chance creation, and the use of wingbacks, it’s going to become impossible to stop Lukaku from getting the ball.
He has all the attributes to be lethal in the box and that’s just when it’s delivered to him. He also has the technical ability to play a role like that of Harry Kane’s at Spurs, where he brings others into play. Lukaku might just be a little unfair.
Lukaku is the complete centre forward, he has all the tools to run the Premier League. Should he continue his form, Chelsea will have the trophy in no time.