"It’s on him to keep going" - Thomas Tuchel urges 22-year-old Chelsea star to continue impressive run

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has heaped praise on Kai Havertz for his goalscoring form.

Havertz scored twice against Burnley on Saturday at Turf Moor in the Blues' convincing 4-0 Premier League win. Praising the young German exploits in the game, Tuchel said about his compatriot:

“He gives a lot of intensity, and he’s involved in goals. He scored again, so it’s a very good moment, and it’s on him to keep going. This is how it is. We played the last cup match without him, Timo was very strong, and was very close to starting (on Saturday). Romelu got his goal, and we will need everybody, but, at this moment, he’s (Havertz's) in really good shape.”

Tuchel added:

“What he gives us is huge volume. He covers a lot of metres; he covers a lot of metres in high intensity, so he finds the intensity; no matter what the system the opponent defends against us, he finds intensive runs; he finds distances. This is what makes him, and he uses his body more and more."

Tuchel also noted:

“He loves to create overloads and half spaces, and this is what he gives. It’s just his style of play, his characteristic as a player. He’s in good shape; he’s confident.”

Havertz, 22, has nine goals and four assists in 32 games across competitions for the Blues this season.

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Chelsea beat Burnley 4-0 to stay third in Premier League

Chelsea turned on the style in the second half at Turf Moor against Burnley. After a goalless first half, Reece James broke the deadlock two minutes into the second.

Havertz added two quick goals in the next eight minutes before Christian Pulisic rounded off the scoring with a fourth in the 69th minute. James had a brilliant performance, scoring one and assisting another. Praising the young right-back, Tuchel said:

“I said it many times. I think the biggest struggle for us in this season in this moment is the injuries of key players and long-term injuries of key players, and Reecey is one of the key players, and also Ben Chilwell."

Tuchel lamented the loss of key players during critical periods this season, saying:

“We had players out for many weeks, and that cost us. On top of that was the Covid situation, where we sometimes struggled in a crazy way, where we arrived in Wolverhampton (in December) with 14 players and stuff like this.”

Chelsea remain third in the Premier League table after their win at Turf Moor. However, fourth-placed Arsenal are five points behind, and have a game in hand. Chelsea will take on Norwich City on Thursday in their next league outing.