A Statistical Look At Whether Chelsea Were Right To Get Rid Of Lukaku Rather Than Torres

Jose Mourinho’s decision to allow Romelu Lukaku to move to Everton for the rest of the season was met by glee from the Toffees, but with a sense of frustration from the Blues fans. The 20-year-old is one of the most promising frontmen in the Premier League and to let him leave with Fernando Torres leading the line is, well, absurd in my opinion. Let’s take a look at the statistics.

Lukaku spent last season on loan to West Brom where he hit 17 goals in 35 league games to really stamp his name on the English topflight. Head down to Stamford Bridge and Torres struck just eight times in 36, an enormous difference.

The pair created a similar number of chances – Torres 37 and Lukaku 36 – although the Belgian played a game less.

Lukaku’s pass accuracy was slightly higher (72%) than the Spaniard’s (69%) but latter won 45% of his duels whereas Lukaku won 44%.

The bullish forward had 79 shots at goal during his Premier League stint at the Hawthorns, hitting the target on 52 occasions (66%). Torres tried his luck at goal on 52 occasions at goal, hitting the target 58% of the time.

For me, Lukaku is the man to lead Chelsea’s line, with Sameul Eto’o, Demba Ba and Torres rotating as needs be.

It’s a long season, after all.