Arsenal remain too soft a touch, Tino Livarmento shines for Southampton and Jürgen Klopp rages despite Liverpool’s win
Romelu Lukaku was always going to assume centre stage. In scoring his first ever goal for the club, the £97.5m returnee did just that. The evidence of 90 minutes at the Emirates showed an added dimension to Thomas Tuchel’s attack, though one reminding of champion Chelsea teams of the Premier League era. Lukaku has never hidden his boyhood admiration for Didier Drogba while the club has lacked a centre-forward as focal point since Diego Costa was shown the door by Antonio Conte in the summer of 2017. The next question is how Tuchel fits his phalanx of inside-forwards and wingers around the Belgian. At the Emirates, Kai Havertz played off Lukaku with Mason Mount forging on from midfield. Reece James, goalscorer and supplier of Lukaku’s goal, and Marcos Alonso provided width as wing-backs, though there were moments when Lukaku’s central presence looked to come at the expense of Chelsea’s previous attacking fluidity. John Brewin