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It perhaps should have come as little surprise when the first question of Thomas Tuchel's press conference ahead of Lille was about Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgian's seven touches against Crystal Palace firmly highlighted the frustatioins the Blues have had in Lukaku's first season back in the Premier League.

It's a statistic that has left some pundits questioning why the 28-year-old is not showing more for the ball, and why his teammates are not providing it to him either.

The Chelsea forward scored two goals in two games during the Club World Cup and had moments that hinted he could finally be settling into the team and leader.

However, the display at Selhurst Park was an exclamation mark on a series of Premier League performances in which he had 20 touches, 18 toughts and 28 touches. Each time it was the fewest number of the Blues' starting XI - as may be expected from the lone frontman.

So, when Tuchel approached the first question of the press conference with a laugh, it was difficult to tell if it was expectation of the topic or exasperation with the situation.

"Ha, what can I do? I don't know. Well, now we have to deal with it, the data is out there and speaks a certain language," said Tuchel.

"He was not involved in our game, it's