Thomas Tuchel defends Romelu Lukaku after anonymous display in win at Palace

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admitted Romelu Lukaku’s lack of touches during the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace showed he was “obviously not involved” but insisted everybody is giving their best.

The Blues lacked fluency in south London but were able to back up their Club World Cup success in Abu Dhabi last weekend with three more points in the Premier League thanks to Hakim Ziyech’s 89th-minute volley.

It was Lukaku’s anonymous display which made headlines with the forward having only seven touches at Selhurst Park, the fewest in a single top-flight game for a player who played 90 minutes since Opta started collecting data back in the 2003-04 season.

“I am not so sure if I have a good answer to your question. I don’t know what it says. It says he was obviously not involved and could not make a point. I am not sure if it says so much about us in general,” Tuchel replied when quizzed about his £97million striker.

“We look a bit drained, a bit exhausted, and you can see everybody tries hard. Everybody is looking for the flow where you try hard but nobody sees you are trying hard.

“We are looking for it but in this moment we struggle, which is not a bad thing because everybody wants to be part of it and everybody gives their best but we do struggle a bit. For that it is important to win and keep a clean sheet so we keep on going.”

After beating Palmeiras to become world champions, Chelsea had a full week to get ready for the trip across the capital but Tuchel pointed out preparation was far from normal.

Captain Cesar Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi sustained injuries in training on Friday and it contributed towards a disjointed performance.

Tuchel added: “You have no idea how a week like this works because we come from a 30