Arsenal vs Chelsea: Three lessons learnt in derby victory

3. The relationship between the wingbacks and Lukaku matters

Since the days of the aforementioned Conte at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea has been a team that seems to thrive when deploying wingbacks. Now that Tuchel’s preferred option is to play with wingbacks, the acquisition of Lukaku seems fully necessary and justified. Any team would benefit from its wingbacks when it has a front line that is clinical in front of the goal. During the days of Conte, Chelsea had players like Pedro, Deigo Costa and Eden Hazard who would not miss many chances. Now with the likes of Lukaku, Havertz and Mount playing together, supporters can expect the same ruthless attacking unit this season.

In the game against Arsenal, it was obvious that the Blues got a lot of joy from playing it through the wingbacks. This was pretty evident with the amount of space the Chelsea wide hybrid-defenders were provided with in the first half especially. Marcos Alonso and James were heavily involved in the Blues’ attacking play throughout the game with the Arsenal defense struggling to cope with Chelsea players going forward.

One of the incidents which speak volumes about Lukaku as a player now and how he will help the young players grow is when James failed to spot the striker run which would have resulted in another tap-in for Chelsea’s No. 9. As the ball trickled over for a corner, Lukaku was quick to point out the right wingback’s mistake in a quick conversation. A shout of “Reece!” could be heard even on the television from Belgium’s all-time goal scorer, who put out both his arms to signal where the pass should have been played. This particular incident points out the fact that Chelsea has bought the best version of Lukaku, who is desperate to score goals. One is not enough for the Belgium international and that ruthlessness is something that the club has lacked for a long time.

What are some of the lessons you learnt in the match against Arsenal? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!