Callum Hudson-Odoi has spent enough time trying to break free of Chelsea’s back line that, as the ball came to him on the edge of his box with the European champions already cruising against Malmo, he sighted an opportunity to race not only towards Kai Havertz, but to the forefront of Thomas Tuchel’s mind.
With the hard yards done, Havertz was on hand to touch in the third goal in a 4-0 win that has put the Blues in a strong position to qualify for the last 16. It came at a cost, however, with Romelu Lukaku suffering a knock to the ankle in the course of winning a penalty and Timo Werner pulling up with a hamstring problem.
Both will be out for “some matches”, Tuchel confirmed, starting with the weekend’s Premier League game against Norwich City.
In their absence, Havertz and Hudson-Odoi might spy an opportunity as the Chelsea boss demanded they show the same “hunger” against the top flight’s basement club as they did under the lights in the Champions League.
This could well be their longest run without both Lukaku and Werner, but finding goals from elsewhere was already a pressing matter. Lukaku, the £97.5m striker, has now gone seven games without a goal (including his 23-minute cameo on Wednesday) and accordingly, Chelsea were averaging just one goal per game in their last five before the midweek Champions League action. Those numbers compare unfavourably to their domestic title rivals, Liverpool (3.6 goals over the same period) and Manchester City (2).
Chelsea’s great strength in that race comes in the depth of their options, though that is about to be tested to the full. Hakim Ziyech will be back after pulling out of the win over Brentford with a headache; he has not scored or registered an assist since August’s Super Cup.
Chelsea’s goal threat
Havertz is averaging 1.4 shots per game (just over half Lukaku’s total) and Hudson-Odoi one shot per game in the Premier League this season. In all competitions, Lukaku is the only player to score more than twice, but Chelsea have had 15 different goalscorers, excluding own goals – that’s the joint-most of any Premier League club, alongside Manchester City.
Havertz and Hudson-Odoi’s numbers are mitigated by the fact they have played significantly fewer minutes – Lukaku (864), Werner (555), Havertz (507) and Hudson-Odoi (342), and the latter has rarely operated in his chosen position as a forward.
However, it is something of a myth to suggest that Tuchel always utilises the 20-year-old as a wing-back.
Since the German replaced Frank Lampard in January 2021, Hudson-Odoi has made more appearances (11) as a right wing-back than anywhere else. He has also led the line twice and played a further 10 times operating behind the striker (eight on the left, and two on the right). Admittedly, a number of those have come from the bench.
That is inevitably going to limit his goal output, though he initially suggested the switch “wasn’t a problem”. His reported desire to join long-standing suitors Bayern Munich in the summer perhaps told a different story.
Told to “work up and down the line, be direct and stay as high and wide as possible,” he earned Man of the Match in Tuchel’s first two games.
Against Norwich, he is likely to be called upon either to lead the line with Havertz as a front two – as Werner and Lukaku did against Brentford – or play a wide role with Mason Mount on the other side.
Norwich (with the second worst Premier League defence after Newcastle) will allow them to experiment – lessons could even be learned from the recent 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in which both Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne operated as false nines at various points.
The low point of Hudson-Odoi’s time under Tuchel came in February, when he came on as a substitute for Tammy Abraham against Southampton only to be taken off again 31 minutes later. There is far less scope for such a show of unbelief this time with Chelsea so stretched in attack.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3vxw1Us
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