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Romelu Lukaku has announced his return to Chelsea with four goals in as many games. How can Tottenham stop the Blues’ ‘main man’ adding another this weekend?
Lukaku was labeled the ‘complete striker’ by Sky Sports’ Graeme Souness following his double in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa last Saturday and has hit the ground running on his Premier League return after netting 47 Serie A goals across the last two seasons with Inter Milan.
He’s looked the missing piece of the puzzle for Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League winners, who scored only 25 times in the German’s 19 league games in charge last season and owed their improved results almost entirely to a shored-up backline which conceded just 15 goals in that time while keeping 11 clean sheets.
Lukaku’s arrival has provided a whole new headache for opposition managers. The 28-year-old is a nightmare in the box, is already exceeding his expected goals target, and has won more duels than almost anyone else in his first three matches back – all while being one of Chelsea’s best creators, too.
“He is goals,” said Souness. “You’ve got someone who can get you goals out of nothing. I think he’s near enough the complete striker – he’s not brilliant at anything, he’s very good at everything.”
Arsenal’s Pablo Mari was taken to the cleaners when trying to go toe-to-toe with Lukaku on his debut, but he is just as ready to punish defenders who give him space, as he showed with his fabulous touch and finish for Chelsea’s third against Villa.
In his final season in Italy Lukaku blew away almost all comers, scoring 24 goals in 36 games, but three teams did manage to get a handle on Inter’s main attacking threat. Across games with Hellas Verona, Atalanta and Udinese the striker struggled to keep hold of the ball, managed only a single shot – and most importantly, did not score.
