Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel needs to show Romelu Lukaku some love

For all Romelu Lukaku’s issues this season, the Liverpool dressing room at Wembley will be a happier place if he is left out of Chelsea’s line-up.

Kai Havertz is a talented player but I would be amazed if Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip would rather play against Lukaku than him. 

They will know the Belgian can knock you about physically and hurt you with his pace in behind. The midfielders will not want to see him either because they will have to screen him.

Lukaku’s 10 goals in 28 games this season is below expectations but he still has greater capabilities than any other Chelsea forward.

Chelsea thought they were buying a one goal-in-two striker when they paid Inter nearly £97million for his signature. It made sense to nearly everyone, myself included, because he was quick, strong and full of confidence having won Serie A.

The first few games echoed the sentiment, with Lukaku making Chelsea look stronger. But it has been downhill since then with the infamous Sky Italia interview and six games without a goal in domestic football, culminating in only having seven touches against Palace, an unwanted Premier League record.

It is not time for Chelsea to appoint blame but look for solutions. Some players you kick up the backside, others need an arm around the shoulder.

What you feel about Lukaku is that he responds better when he feels loved rather than criticised. I had a similar situation as a player at Fulham. Bobby Zamora needed encouragement but the manager Martin Jol decided to push him. It ended in a fall-out and Zamora leaving the club.

We are a long way from that scenario with Lukaku but Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel doesn’t strike me as the type to do tea and sympathy. He seems to expect the players to look after