Romelu Lukaku has only scored three Premier League goals this season, but his importance to Chelsea is enormous. The Belgian returned to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan for £97.5 million this summer, where he cemented his position as the world's best striker. In fact, in just two seasons in Serie A, he scored 47 goals and 13 assists, leading the team to the first title in 11 years. In contrast, in November, he scored only three league goals, which seems to be a big disappointment. Missing pre-season games, missing games against Manchester City and Liverpool, and his recent ankle injury are all legitimate excuses to blame, especially given the record fees the club paid for him, which is hard to ignore for many Blues fans. However, his restart life in West London has not been as bad as it seems and he remains an integral part of Tuchel's plan to win the Premier League title.
First, it's not enough for a team's ace striker to score just three goals in 11 games in a season. It is worth noting, however, that Lukaku has only played in seven of these games, meaning that the number of goals scored in each game is 0.43. That's about twice as much as Kay Havertz and three times as much as Werner. In addition, from an offensive point of view, Romelu Lukaku created three fantastic chances, two more than the German duo combined. So while the 28-year-old's numbers seem poor, at the No. 9 he far outperformed his competitors.
On top of that, the Blues have one of the strongest squads in the world, but they're clearly missing a substitute striker like the Belgian. This begs the question of why Giroud was released this summer along with Academy graduate Abraham. Replacing two strikers with one striker was a risky decision, and Chelsea paid the price in their recent draw with Burnley. They created opportunities again and again, but failed to transform them, and the opportunities ended up at the feet of Buckley and others. Now, if Giroud were at the top of the pack in this game, one would think the score would tell us a completely different story, and Lukaku would be less stressed to return after the international break. So maybe the Chelsea board should take part of the blame for the team's over-reliance on one person, as Tuchel didn't have a capable substitute and it wasn't Lukaku's fault.