The stats that show Chelsea were right to sell Lukaku

With Chelsea hosting Everton on Saturday, all eyes will be on Romelu Lukaku as he makes only his second appearance at Stamford Bridge since leaving. 

The burly Belgian forward has scored 55 goals in 107 appearances for Everton – but has failed to find the net in three games against Chelsea.

And stats from Opta, highlighted by fantasy football game www.oulala.com, show Chelsea may have benefited from selling Lukaku for £28m in 2014 – as his slightly costlier replacement, Diego Costa, has performed better.

The two are having contrasting seasons – Lukaku already has five more league goals (15) than last season’s tally of 10, and is nine ahead of Costa.

However, the Spain striker’s exceptional goalscoring form from last season has him well ahead of Lukaku in minutes per goal (135 to 189) since the summer of 2014.

Costa has also been far more efficient with his strikes, his 23% conversion rate being 9% higher than Lukaku, who is prone to be wayward at times.

Having scored three goals in three matches, it looks as though Costa is beginning to find his form again, while Lukaku has not scored in his last two Premier League games.

Breaking his drought against his former side would go some way in proving Chelsea were wrong to let him go.