Romelu Lukaku’s difficult season at Chelsea continued during Saturday’s narrow win over Crystal Palace.
Hakim Ziyech’s late strike ensured Thomas Tuchel won on their Premier League return but, in truth, the German’s expensively assembled attacking line all too often looked like laboured.
Lukaku in particular endured a frustrating game at Selhurst Park.
While the Belgian battled away as a lone target-man, not the kind of role he excelled in at Inter Milan last season, he struggled to get into the game whatsoever.
In fact, according to Opta’s stats, the 28-year-old was barely involved at all.
Their match data points to the fact Lukaku had just seven touches throughout the entirety of the game, the lowest ever recorded for an outfield player to have played in all 90+ minutes since Opta began collecting data during the 2003-04 season.
After another disappointing display, more questions will surely be asked of his role within this Chelsea team.
