EPL: Why Havertz is starting ahead of Lukaku – Tuchel opens up

Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel has explained why Kai Havertz is now starting a lot of games ahead of Romelu Lukaku.

According to Tuchel, the German forward brings unique qualities to the team.

Havertz has started four of the Blues’ last five fixtures, while Lukaku has received just two nods over that same period.

Last weekend, Havertz netted twice in a 4-0 win over Burnley and Lukaku did not come off the bench.

Tuchel said: “Of course [it’s hard to leave out Havertz]. He gives a lot of intensity and he’s involved in goals.

“We played the last cup match without him, Timo Werner was very strong and was very close to starting. Romelu got his goal and we will need everybody. But at this moment, [Havertz is] in really good shape.

“He covers a lot of metres in high intensity, so he finds the intensity no matter what the system the opponent defends against us, he finds intensive runs, he finds distances.

“He loves to create overloads and half spaces and this is what he gives. It’s just his style of play, his characteristic as a player. He’s in good shape, he’s confident.”