When a £97.5million signing has three goals in two games, it's not often there would be a debate over whether they should start in the following match. However, this was the FA Cup final and it's been far from the expected season for Romelu Lukaku at Chelsea.
The 29-year-old has been far from the Blues' first choice in 2022 but started the previous two matches against Leeds United and Wolves and put in performances that were worth more than his goals. At Elland Road the Belgian in particular showed an all-round display in pressing the Leeds defence, while his distribution to Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic matched with some strong hold-up play suggested Lukaku had managed to adapt and thrive, while Kai Havertz was left on the bench. Indeed, Lukaku even established himself as Chelsea top goalscorer with 15 goals this season.
Havertz, while not necessarily prolific has enjoyed a solid start to the year and seems to mesh with the way Thomas Tuchel likes to play with lots of movement and lots of pressing. His combination play appears more natural with the Blues other forwards, and with 13 goals himself, isn't too far behind what Lukaku has presented in front of goal, albeit having had seven more starts.
